Copying Stories
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Copying Stories
My dad told me that if I post stories here then they could possibly be copied by another person and they could say that that story was their own. Could I run into that kind of trouble here?
Copying Stories
I suppose in a very, very far-fetched way it could happen - but considering it's fanfiction and as such can't be published for any personal gain anyway as it technically belongs to the Tolkien Estate and Saul Zaentz, New Line, etc. it seems all you do is rob yourself of the enjoyment of an appreciative audience.
The world of LOTR fanfic is HUUUGE and there's SO much amazing writing being shared in the fan community it seems unlikely yours, of all of it, would be the one latched onto by some ne'er-do-well. Most people will give credit if they're going to quote you anyway, just out of courtesy, and the result is more readers of your work - which is the whole point anyway, isn't it? To share?
I know a lady in my church who is a relatively gifted poet but no one knows it - I'm one of the only people who has seen it outside her family because she's so afraid someone will 'steal' it it has remained unshared. This to me is a bit like burying treasure in the ground to no effect. Writing is a form of communication and only means something when communicated, to my thought.
The items posted here are archived to our Scrapbook site unless you don't want them there, but the legal disclaimers there indicate they are not to be copied or distributed without author permission. And yes, I have had folks contact me to ask permission for a small number of things but if I have any way of contacting the author, it's their call.
Does that help clarify at all?
The world of LOTR fanfic is HUUUGE and there's SO much amazing writing being shared in the fan community it seems unlikely yours, of all of it, would be the one latched onto by some ne'er-do-well. Most people will give credit if they're going to quote you anyway, just out of courtesy, and the result is more readers of your work - which is the whole point anyway, isn't it? To share?
I know a lady in my church who is a relatively gifted poet but no one knows it - I'm one of the only people who has seen it outside her family because she's so afraid someone will 'steal' it it has remained unshared. This to me is a bit like burying treasure in the ground to no effect. Writing is a form of communication and only means something when communicated, to my thought.
The items posted here are archived to our Scrapbook site unless you don't want them there, but the legal disclaimers there indicate they are not to be copied or distributed without author permission. And yes, I have had folks contact me to ask permission for a small number of things but if I have any way of contacting the author, it's their call.
Does that help clarify at all?
Re: Copying Stories
Yes,Thanks Primula!
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Ringwraith-Wife
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Re: Copying Stories
Primula said : " I know a lady in my church who is a relatively gifted poet but no one knows it - I'm one of the only people who has seen it outside her family because she's so afraid someone will 'steal' it it has remained unshared. This to me is a bit like burying treasure in the ground to no effect. Writing is a form of communication and only means something when communicated, to my thought."
Very well said, Prim. It is so sad, but true, that the world is full of people like her.
Fan Fiction does occupy a grey area because of the licensing/copyright problems. (Parody is excluded by existing copyright laws, and it could be argued that all fan-fic is parody. )
I'm sure Zentz & the Tolkien Estate would rather see it in the lower corners of Satan's Homeplace, however, than on the internet. That said, you are sooo right, Prim... 'fan-fic' is a marvelous way to learn your craft, and get wonderful feedback, besides, to that idea or two, or twenty, that would otherwise reside in a box under your bed, keeping company with your dust bunnies and paranoia.
As for the fear that someone could copy your work from this site, saying it was their own... of course they could. Fools of that ilk have copied work belonging to other authors ( works residing behind cardboard covers of 'safely published' books, mind you, ) since the invention of the printing press. The difference is... "they" may never have an original idea in their life. You, of course, will have hundreds... even thousands, because you have exercised that space between your ears, while the only thing they've done is utilize the benefits of life with XEROX. * RANT, RANT, RANT * 
Thank you all,
For the use of the hall.
Very well said, Prim. It is so sad, but true, that the world is full of people like her.
Fan Fiction does occupy a grey area because of the licensing/copyright problems. (Parody is excluded by existing copyright laws, and it could be argued that all fan-fic is parody. )
I'm sure Zentz & the Tolkien Estate would rather see it in the lower corners of Satan's Homeplace, however, than on the internet. That said, you are sooo right, Prim... 'fan-fic' is a marvelous way to learn your craft, and get wonderful feedback, besides, to that idea or two, or twenty, that would otherwise reside in a box under your bed, keeping company with your dust bunnies and paranoia.
As for the fear that someone could copy your work from this site, saying it was their own... of course they could. Fools of that ilk have copied work belonging to other authors ( works residing behind cardboard covers of 'safely published' books, mind you, ) since the invention of the printing press. The difference is... "they" may never have an original idea in their life. You, of course, will have hundreds... even thousands, because you have exercised that space between your ears, while the only thing they've done is utilize the benefits of life with XEROX. * RANT, RANT, RANT * Thank you all,
For the use of the hall.