The Industry Today: Fanwork
Now there are many things when we think about fan work or as some would say fanfic or fan art. Usually a depiction, a written script or even a film of an already existing idea based on idea’s created by fans of said idea. Now there is something that has always bothered me about the laws of the industry why is it illegal to create Fanwork? In many cases the people have produced some of the most influential works in all forms of the media industry and has given people some of the greatest concepts to read or watch.
Intellectual property basically is the ownership of an idea and the certain perimeters that people have to follow in order to avoid being sued by creators for copying their ideas or earning money based their ideas. Now I am all for the creators receiving compensation from their ideas like from toys, films and TV series, but I do not stand for the corporations receiving money from people who were creating their own unique ideas such as a young fan Stephanie Lucas being sued by FOX for creating a wool cap like the one from the TV series "Firefly" which was the point of her making it as she was a fan.
Morally this isn’t right as I can finally put the fact that Fanwork has helped make the media industry better and here are some cases as why. Creating Fan art allows people to look at the existing concept in different ways and allows for new ideas that can work with the existing work or what is considered as canon and this can lead to opportunities for the people who create this Fanwork as some fans work on a certain series can be very good.
Such as in the case of the power rangers short film Scorpion Rain which was written by Amit Bhaumik, where he was later hired for his work and was made a screen writer for Power Rangers Wild Force, because Jude Lynn a show runner for the series said that this guy had an eye for keeping the series in continuity. He even went on to write the 10th anniversary episode “Forever Red”.
The Manga industry has thrived on fan work as it has dedicated an entire genre to it with Dohjinshi and has allowed people to produce their own work around a franchise like Dragon Ball AF and allows people to build more around the existing fan base and go into stories that the original Manga probably wouldn’t do, thus Japan does not only allow Fan work to make money, but they have created an entire genre around it not just for the money, but for the creativity of fans.
In more than one way comics have helped to serve the betterment of fan art and independent ideas due to the corporate jerks who run the industry, If Marvel didn’t say that the ideas of the writers and artists are second only to the characters then the driving force at the time wouldn’t have created Image Comics and made characters based on Marvel’s such as Jim Lee’s WildC.A.T.S and many writers and artists wouldn’t have created superman archetypes like with Jupiter’s legacy.
In the case of parodies look at the Simpsons episode “The Day Violence Died” an episode in which Roger Myers Jr. says when it is in his own interest that “the legal system can’t take away their rights to steal ideas” and the animation industry is built upon plagiarism in many cases by listing several shows that are based on others such as Yogi Bear and The Flintstones being rip offs the honeymooners. The episode even has a parody of School House Rock’s “I’m just a Bill”.
With the internet age today it is easier for people to create their fan art and their fan-fiction and put it up on the internet and the same is with many other people’s ideas such as comics being placed online into websites for all to view for the reason if they cannot afford said comic they are looking for and in some cases they are even translated for people who don’t speak English. And fan art even inspires people just as much as the actual art produced by the professionals because the only difference with some is the fact that they have been acknowledged by a whole industry.
In conclusion the work of fans is a good extension of the work done by the creators the fact that people love something so much that they create based on that love, like how Bill Watterson never capitalised on Calvin and Hobbes and gave the fans a chance to create their own on the series, making their toys and videos online, by making these works illegal in many courses the corporate bodies that protect these laws don’t see the fact that they are not arresting thieves, they are harassing people who are just proud of what hard working and creative people have indeed created and what is pride is not self-expression through your own creativity.
Yes I admit there is always a chance at bastardisation, but sometimes you have to give people a chance to make some stuff because in the end it might end up enhancing what they loved to begin with. It’s the same case with censorship, censoring the word is just going to make the person want to know what the word is and in this case will only make the person find ways around the system.
