Today I read a headline over at PaidContent.org that Disney was buying Fanlib, a digital platform for Fanfiction writers. Fanfiction is such a fascinating phenomenon to me. It is defined as a term for "fiction about characters or settings written by admirers of the original work, rather than by the original creators." It is not published in the traditional sense nor are writers paid for their work, however there is a fervent Fanfiction online community and more than a few sites where writers post their literary pieces, regularly. Um. It's big.

In 1970 Mary Ellen Curtain started researching Fanfiction as it applied to "Star Trek" lovers, no surprise there. She found a dedicated group of writers who invented new episodes and chapters based on the original "Star Trek" story and characters. They shared them with one another through fanzines like "Spockanalia." But lovers of literature have been writing sequels, prequels, additional chapters and alternative endings perhaps as early as the King Arthur Tales emerged. You could make a case that folklore in general was a cumulative creative endeavor — a "wiki" experience, if you will. If science fiction is where modern Fanfiction blossomed, however, the world wide web is where it has found its vast and most fertile ground.

Curtain found in her research on Fanfiction that the majority of writers were female and between the ages of 17 and 23. Research conducted by folks at Fandominion.net reflect the same demographics today. I find this interesting. In the world of user generated online video, in contrast, it's males that dominate. Uploads tend to be from guys aged somewhere between 13 to 25. This leads me to believe boys want to participate in creative online communities in some ways, but not as it relates to literature. But why the dramatic split? Is it just classic gender role stuff? Boys like video games, girls read more… blah blah blah. Not sure, but I think it would be a great issue to explore.

Of course, there are legal issues. Many authors have embraced Fanfiction, like JK Rowling. Others like Anne Rice are opposed to it and actually asked Fanlib to discontinue entries that used her characters. In 1981, George Lucas simply asked many 'Star Wars' fanzines publishers to simply not publish "pornography" and then sent them some friendly writing guidelines. Fair enough.

Fanfiction by nature is derivative and so technically some say it violates copyright law. But not if you subscribe to the fair-use argument. "According to that law, Fanfiction may legally fall under 'fair-use' because it is the 'productive addition of creative labor' to copyrighted materials. Additionally, it does not act as a substitute to the original copyrighted work, because the author does not profit from Fanfiction". I wonder if legal concerns will change for Fanilb writers after it's owned by Disney? Also, will being associated with a corporate giant give Fanfiction a new legitimacy but strip it of some of its underground spirit?

I'm also curious to see what impact, if any, Fanfiction and its' imminent mainstreaming will have on the publishing world in the future. We've seen so many examples of writers sharing their work by publishing online, will there be any increased exposure to fan writers as the result of a Disney acquisition? I don't think Fanfiction will change the traditional model of publishing as it stands, but it could make us look at the ways writers and readers relate to each other. I also think Fanfiction could be an important beacon in the ever-changing landscape of copyright and intellectual property laws– for better or worse.

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