Is FanFic an illegal act of creating derivative works?
Copyright owners have the right to prepare derivative works based on the copyrighted work. In most cases the right to prepare derivative works is superfluous since when this right is infringed, the right to reproduction will also be infringed. For example, if a FanFic author creates a new story about Darth Vader, the author will have infringed both the derivative right and the right to reproduce that character. As with a violation of the right to reproduction, the plaintiff will also need to show that the FanFic author copied from the original and that the new story is substantially similar to the original in expression. To be an infringement, the derivative work must be “based upon the copyrighted work,” which refers to “a translation, musical arrangement, dramatization, fictionalization, motion picture version, sound recording, art reproduction, abridgment, condensation, or any other form in which a work may be recast, transformed, or adapted.” Thus, to constitute a violation of sect
