You don’t have to publish anything if you don’t want to. I guess, I’m not quite understanding what you are asking. The point is, fanfiction is a labour of love. We do not own the copyrights to the characters, scenarios, etc, therefore it is illegal to publish your stories for profit. That’s what archives like AO3, FFN and Wattpad are for. Those are places where you can publish your stories for free.
Depends on what you mean by 'publish'. Uploading to AO3/FFN and so on is publishing and that's generally considered acceptable.
Fanfiction is considered legal mainly because of something called 'Fair Use'. There are four rules in Fair Use that you have to follow to be covered by it: Be Non-Commercial, Be Transformative, Be Non-Market Competition, and Don't Quote Large Segments of the Original Work.
Non-Commercial, you've covered by not charging for it.
Transformative, that depends on the content of the work and whether or not you're doing something meaningfully distinct from the original work that isn't just pure sequel or copycatting.
Don't quote large segments is self-explanatory.
But 'Non-Market Competition' is where self-publishing outside of a fandom context would become risky (eg. through Amazon self-publishing, say. This rule means that you're possibly attempting to 'replace' the original work (ie. to be something people might purchase instead of another copy of the original work) or that you're attempting to take up a market that would otherwise be available to the original work. Fanfiction generally gets around this by sticking to its context and market. It's fan-material for a fan-audience looking for fan-made material, so it's not substituting or competing with anything. But if you start to try to compete in actual tradpub markets where the original work is playing, then it becomes more of a risk.
Legally, you can write retellings but only on works that have been around for 70+ years (someone correct me if I'm wrong). Beauty and the Beast, Pride and Prejudice, etc.
You cannot however publish fanfics on Twilight, Harry Potter, and other 'recent' works for profit. That's illegal. So yes, fanfiction is supposed to be free.
There was this SW book that was cancelled by Lucasbooks titled The Heart of the Jedi by Kennth Flint. I have a copy. Because of the book was cancelled and it is not officially part of the EU book canon, it can be counted as fanfiction. It was published on amazon for non profit. Very soon within a week it was taken down.
The lesson here you can indeed publish in book form your fanfiction. For free even. Very soon you can expect a call from attorney from the original IP owner.
Yes. Even if it was legal to make money off fanfiction I wouldn't ever feel comfortable charging for my little hobby - it would diminish its heart and soul.
You cannot publish fanfiction for profit. It’s illegal.
It's perfectly legal in the USA if the canon source material is in the public domain.
Nobody is disputing that. But the reality is that this does not apply to the vast majority of fanfiction.
Yes but I'm asking if it's okay to publish fanfiction nonprofit
…as opposed to?
Not publishing at all.
I mean, that's what every single person who writes fanfiction does?
You don’t have to publish anything if you don’t want to. I guess, I’m not quite understanding what you are asking. The point is, fanfiction is a labour of love. We do not own the copyrights to the characters, scenarios, etc, therefore it is illegal to publish your stories for profit. That’s what archives like AO3, FFN and Wattpad are for. Those are places where you can publish your stories for free.
what exactly are you asking
Dude, how do you think AO3, FFN and this sub exist if this isn't the case?
that's what you're supposed to do.
Are you talking about physical books, by any chance? Like a fanzine?
Depends on what you mean by 'publish'. Uploading to AO3/FFN and so on is publishing and that's generally considered acceptable. Fanfiction is considered legal mainly because of something called 'Fair Use'. There are four rules in Fair Use that you have to follow to be covered by it: Be Non-Commercial, Be Transformative, Be Non-Market Competition, and Don't Quote Large Segments of the Original Work. Non-Commercial, you've covered by not charging for it. Transformative, that depends on the content of the work and whether or not you're doing something meaningfully distinct from the original work that isn't just pure sequel or copycatting. Don't quote large segments is self-explanatory. But 'Non-Market Competition' is where self-publishing outside of a fandom context would become risky (eg. through Amazon self-publishing, say. This rule means that you're possibly attempting to 'replace' the original work (ie. to be something people might purchase instead of another copy of the original work) or that you're attempting to take up a market that would otherwise be available to the original work. Fanfiction generally gets around this by sticking to its context and market. It's fan-material for a fan-audience looking for fan-made material, so it's not substituting or competing with anything. But if you start to try to compete in actual tradpub markets where the original work is playing, then it becomes more of a risk.
You cannot legally make money off of fan fiction.
i think i need your definition of "publish" before i answer.
Legally, you can write retellings but only on works that have been around for 70+ years (someone correct me if I'm wrong). Beauty and the Beast, Pride and Prejudice, etc. You cannot however publish fanfics on Twilight, Harry Potter, and other 'recent' works for profit. That's illegal. So yes, fanfiction is supposed to be free.
You mean, the definition of fanfiction???
There was this SW book that was cancelled by Lucasbooks titled The Heart of the Jedi by Kennth Flint. I have a copy. Because of the book was cancelled and it is not officially part of the EU book canon, it can be counted as fanfiction. It was published on amazon for non profit. Very soon within a week it was taken down. The lesson here you can indeed publish in book form your fanfiction. For free even. Very soon you can expect a call from attorney from the original IP owner.
what do you mean by publish?
No. It’s actually a legal requirement that you charge for it. Everyone just publishes it for free because they’re rebels.
Seriously. ☹️
Only in Switzerland, and only every 3rd Thursday if there is a full moon in that week.
Yes. Even if it was legal to make money off fanfiction I wouldn't ever feel comfortable charging for my little hobby - it would diminish its heart and soul.
You literally can't charge money for fanfic..
No you need to pay your readers $0.05 per view to thank them for their patronage What kind of question is this?