6 thoughts on “Anne McCaffrey on Fanfic”

  1. When did this come out? I know that McCaffery used to disallow fanfiction in any form at all, but she has recently reversed that and allowed it fanfic based on her works, provided it follows her rules (which you already have linked to her name).

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  2. I find it pretty interesting that McCaffrey’s son — who benefits from his mother’s work with no creative effort of his own involved — is the one who lays claim to not only derivative works concerning Pern, but to anything even inspired by McCaffrey’s books. That sounds very much like greed run amok.
    It’s worth noting that, despite the claims of McCaffrey’s lawyers, the legal situation surrounding fan fiction, fan art and so forth is far from clear-cut. The substantial lack of legal foundation in these matters makes claims against such fan activity (like the ones you routinely make) fairly toothless. Threatening letters from attorneys do not precedent set. Until a number of cases have been adjudicated, there is no clear-cut answer as to legal rightness or wrongness.
    If you skip down a bit on the linked page, you’ll see a small feature on Andy Warhol. I’m pleased to see him mentioned in the context of this argument, if only because the bulk of his work could never have been produced if Anne McCaffrey’s son — or Lee Goldberg, for that matter — was in charge of what is legal and what is not in the creative arena. If nothing else, Warhol demonstrates that the culture benefits as a whole by tending toward the lenient in matters of art and IP.

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  3. Speaking of legal matters- everything on this site regarding legal matters and fanfic seems to insinuate that the Laws of the Internet are the same as the Laws of America. This is CLEARLY not true as obviously internetters come from all over the world, with countries which have totally different laws.
    Such is the problem with the web that laws are unenforcable in realistic terms.
    Sparky

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  4. Anne McCaffrey fans were lucky compared to some. Let’s not forget the wank regarding Chelsea Quinn Yarbo, Anne Rice, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Mercedes Lackey over fan fiction. Her policy was clear. The actions of her representatives were consistent over time.

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