Ok, if you are writing a fanfic, you should now have a clear picture in your head of what your ending of your story is going to be. You have decided whether you care about what others think of your story, or you just like writing for yourself and what your plot will be (at least one of the 6 plots I mentioned). Whether this is going to be just a wild group of incidents (Campy), or if it will actually be a logical progression of events based on the parameters you set (serious). This is the foundation. Time to start putting up your walls.
Now this is a Fanfic right? So let us decide if we will use CANON characters (these are the actual characters from your favorite fiction. These are like Wonder Woman, Batman, Catwoman) or whether you’re going to use ORIGINAL characters. (This may include Using a SETTING, such as Gotham City, but use your own CHARACTERS, or it may be a completely original setting and just be in YOUR world where “Super Heroes” exist, so it’s STILL a fanfic from the standpoint of you are a fan of superheroes)
I think I will hold off on the actual advantages and disadvantages if original or canon characters until next part, let’s first address some of the myths and facts of USING canon characters. A police officer in real life will refer to a common citizen with no legal training (except the Internet) as a “street lawyer” who proceeds from a little knowledge and thinks he is an expert. MOST writers and admins (including myself) are street lawyers. OR the admin of a website will, (usually barely able to afford) hire ONE lawyer, who himself is out to MAKE money, and not get sued. This guy will AUTOMATICALLY default to “DON’T use copyrighted characters!” This is a quick, easy payday for the lawyer, no research needed, no controversy, the administrator can’t afford him ANYWAYS if it goes to court… and “BINGO BANGO BONGO” the admin have an Acceptable User Policy backed by Law! (HORSE SHIT).
I can only speak to UNITED STATES LAW (Which is OK, because if you live in another country, U.S. law cannot touch you). Marvel Comics (example) CAN come into your country and use YOUR laws. Anyways; my source for my below statements are first amendment advocacy groups LIKE the ACLU and others who FIGHT for freedom of speech and expression.
FACT #1: COPYRIGHT law was DESIGNED (the intent of the law) to prevent someone else from PROFITING from your work. Well guess what guys…if you are not collecting MONEY for your story, you, the writer, are not violating copyrights.
FACT #2: You can NOT copyright NAMES, so you can make ALL the “Diana Prince” characters you want…However be careful. Wonder Woman is a REGISTERED TRADEMARK, not a name…however of you USE WW but do not make MONEY off it… See Fact #1
FACT #3 if you can SHOW differences between YOUR character and THEIRS, it is YOUR character. EXAMPLE: If anyone wants to do some simple, homework…There was a cartoon out in the early 70’s by a Japaneese director named “Tetzuka” Who Made up a Cartoon of KIMBA the white Lion. A lion cub who had 3 companions: a parrot named Polly, a baboon named Daniel and a Deer named Bucky, and who was stalked by 3 bumbling hyenas. 1994 Disney came out with The Lion King, A lion cub named Simba who had 3 companions a Horn Bill named Zazu a mentor who was a baboon named Rafiki, and a wart hog, who was stalked by 3 bumbling hyenas who were the comic relief. (This will become important in a moment).
FACT #4: NO one, not the ACLU, not Disney nor Marvel or anyone else...WANT this to go to court! THINK about this…Neither YOU nor your POSTING site...has a lot of money. Let’s say DC decides to actually TAKE you to court and let’s say they win, they SUE your SOCKS off. #1 this is going to cost them a LOT of money, because IF they win, groups like the ACLU will lose a LOT of clout. #2 there is also the bad press of BIG BAD DC, suing poor “I have nothing you” (anyone remember napster?) But the BIGGEST reason they will never sue you is…IF they win, they are BOUND by their OWN ruling...meaning other companies (like in the example above in Fact #3) could sue DC if any of DC’s stuff even RESEMBLED something they (or you) wrote…
Now let stake the reverse…DC sues you and you WIN, ok at this point the genie is OUT of the bottle, with THAT ruling ANYONE would be free to write ANYTHING using ANY character, and there is NOTHING DC, or anyone else could do about it (a nightmare for them). So the stakes are VERY high here, and there is a big potential for the companies to lose.
So what can these big companies do (and they HAVE done and got away with)? Well they can send you a real official nasty looking official cease and desist order (Which is not worth the paper it is written on unless they want to take you to court to enforce it and we see in Fact #4 above, in all the years of fanfic, not ONCE have they taken anyone to actual court). The cease and desist, is cheap and easy and it SCARES the hell out of people. A lawyer hits a button on a standard form letter, puts a stamp on and you get scared and stop...problem solved (for them) for the cost of a 40 cent stamp. They can ALSO slander you in social media (a latter section will discuss the need for a penname) Trying to identify you or your site and make out to the public how “these stories cause deviants to do bad things” or how “this person thinks rape is ok!” (Remember just because George Lucas thought up Darth Vader does not mean George Lucas supports using the force to take over the galaxy) It’s all hype but it can smart if you do not take some precautions (addressed in a later section). Suffice it to say for now, USE a penname, and get a FREE AOL or Gmail or whatever account you ONLY use for your writing and NOTHING else. Do not even tell a friend it is you on THAT e-mail account. Just remember there is not even ONE SINGLE case where a writer or his site, where NO profit is made, that has been taken to court for theft of intellectual property, ever, globally. If it is SUCH a big deal, I wonder…WHY?