5 ms·

This makes me think that it's a shame we'll never have a modern equivalent of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, because nothing new will ever enter the public do

by jbellis 17y ago

This makes me think that it's a shame we'll never have a modern equivalent of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, because nothing new will ever enter the public domain after the 1998 copyright act.

jerf 17y ago
Good news! For you! Maybe less good for others! http://www.harrypotterfanfiction.com/ http://www.harrypotterfanfiction.com/ -> "we currently hold over 60,000 stories" The search page must truly be seen to be believed: http://www.harrypotterfanfiction.com/storytype.php http://www.harrypotterfanfiction.com/storytype.php Metadata search as you've never seen it before! Sturgeon's law is in full effect, of course, but don't forget its fuzzy-logic contrapositive: 10% of everything isn't crap. I can't say I've drunk deeply from this well, but I've read a couple of things that makes you wonder why the author bothered to "steal" the setting at all, when they could quite clearly make their own. (Though it also shows the value of editors and their mighty Red Pens of Cutting Out About A Third Of The Text.)
- derefr 17y ago
  > makes you wonder why the author bothered to "steal" the setting at all, when they could quite clearly make their own. It gives the work a prefabricated audience. It's much harder to convince [random member of the public] to read "my original novel" than it is to convince [random ______ fan] to read "my ______ fan-fiction."
- wisty 17y ago
  Yet we all think Apple's App store policies are draconian. Besides, it's not about copyright. It's about trade marks being expanded to include characters. I'm cool with trade marks (I wouldn't want to buy a book by JK Rowlings if it was actually written by Umberto Eco), but re-using characters doesn't seem so bad.
  - blasdel 17y ago
    > I wouldn't want to buy a book by JK Rowlings if it was actually written by Umberto Eco What. How could you have the capability to conceive of that, yet not want eagerly to read it?
    - wisty 17y ago
      I should have said "or vice versa". JKR is better than Umberto Eco in some ways. You don't have to think much (you just know that most of the twists at the end will be some sucker-punch magical tricks that you never even heard of), and her early stuff was like Roald Dahl. I wouldn't read Harry Potter and The Name of the Pendulum unless I had a lot of time on my hands.
- bmj 17y ago
  The same thing exists for Jane Austen, like http://www.austen.com/ http://www.austen.com/.
- petercooper 17y ago
  I've read a couple of things that makes you wonder why the author bothered to "steal" the setting at all, when they could quite clearly make their own. That's branding in action. Some people think "branding" is only about logos and letterheads, but it can come down as far as a group of characters and a setting in a story, too. Having the same characters and setting as novels they've already enjoyed, Harry Potter fans would probably get more out of even badly written fan fiction than they would from an all-new environment. (From the author's point of view, perhaps they just didn't get a break or didn't have the determination to make it. At least by hijacking the Potter brand, they might get read.) When I was a kid in the early 80s, I had a racing game where you could set the names of the other drivers to anything you liked.. so I set them to names of my friends, family members, etc, and it made the game far more fun even though there was no logical reason for it. Instead of winning a race against generically named computer racers, instead I could be kicking my grandpa's ass until the last corner.. there's something fun about that. So it goes with fan fiction, themed/cartoon porn, and similar pastiches.
- rms 17y ago
  Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality! I posit that it is the best Harry Potter fanfiction of all time. http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/1/Harry_Potter_and_the_Methods_of_Rationality http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/1/Harry_Potter_and_the_M...
  - joeycfan 17y ago
    I read it and you are right. Good call and thanks!
  - memetichazard 17y ago
    As much as I like that story, it doesn't seem to be quite as well received outside the HN/Reddit communities. Most people don't really enjoy/understand the concepts that much (or disagree with their use), and categorize it as crack (typically short fanfiction that contains amusing or interesting concept but lacks the depth or structure to qualify as being good fiction).
  - lpr4 16y ago
    I really liked how Harry Potter tried to prove P=NP. http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/17/Harry_Potter_and_the_Methods_of_Rationality http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/17/Harry_Potter_and_the_...
- hernan7 17y ago
  I'm not sure about that Sturgeon's contrapositive... Are you sure that there is a 10% of, say, Goregrind or telenovelas or vampire romance that is not crap?

by jbellis 17y ago

This makes me think that it's a shame we'll never have a modern equivalent of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, because nothing new will ever enter the public domain after the 1998 copyright act.

jerf 17y ago

Good news! For you! Maybe less good for others! http://www.harrypotterfanfiction.com/ http://www.harrypotterfanfiction.com/ -> "we currently hold over 60,000 stories" The search page must truly be seen to be believed: http://www.harrypotterfanfiction.com/storytype.php http://www.harrypotterfanfiction.com/storytype.php Metadata search as you've never seen it before! Sturgeon's law is in full effect, of course, but don't forget its fuzzy-logic contrapositive: 10% of everything isn't crap. I can't say I've drunk deeply from this well, but I've read a couple of things that makes you wonder why the author bothered to "steal" the setting at all, when they could quite clearly make their own. (Though it also shows the value of editors and their mighty Red Pens of Cutting Out About A Third Of The Text.)

derefr 17y ago
> makes you wonder why the author bothered to "steal" the setting at all, when they could quite clearly make their own. It gives the work a prefabricated audience. It's much harder to convince [random member of the public] to read "my original novel" than it is to convince [random ______ fan] to read "my ______ fan-fiction."
wisty 17y ago
Yet we all think Apple's App store policies are draconian. Besides, it's not about copyright. It's about trade marks being expanded to include characters. I'm cool with trade marks (I wouldn't want to buy a book by JK Rowlings if it was actually written by Umberto Eco), but re-using characters doesn't seem so bad.
- blasdel 17y ago
  > I wouldn't want to buy a book by JK Rowlings if it was actually written by Umberto Eco What. How could you have the capability to conceive of that, yet not want eagerly to read it?
  - wisty 17y ago
    I should have said "or vice versa". JKR is better than Umberto Eco in some ways. You don't have to think much (you just know that most of the twists at the end will be some sucker-punch magical tricks that you never even heard of), and her early stuff was like Roald Dahl. I wouldn't read Harry Potter and The Name of the Pendulum unless I had a lot of time on my hands.
bmj 17y ago
The same thing exists for Jane Austen, like http://www.austen.com/ http://www.austen.com/.
petercooper 17y ago
I've read a couple of things that makes you wonder why the author bothered to "steal" the setting at all, when they could quite clearly make their own. That's branding in action. Some people think "branding" is only about logos and letterheads, but it can come down as far as a group of characters and a setting in a story, too. Having the same characters and setting as novels they've already enjoyed, Harry Potter fans would probably get more out of even badly written fan fiction than they would from an all-new environment. (From the author's point of view, perhaps they just didn't get a break or didn't have the determination to make it. At least by hijacking the Potter brand, they might get read.) When I was a kid in the early 80s, I had a racing game where you could set the names of the other drivers to anything you liked.. so I set them to names of my friends, family members, etc, and it made the game far more fun even though there was no logical reason for it. Instead of winning a race against generically named computer racers, instead I could be kicking my grandpa's ass until the last corner.. there's something fun about that. So it goes with fan fiction, themed/cartoon porn, and similar pastiches.
rms 17y ago
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality! I posit that it is the best Harry Potter fanfiction of all time. http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/1/Harry_Potter_and_the_Methods_of_Rationality http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/1/Harry_Potter_and_the_M...
- joeycfan 17y ago
  I read it and you are right. Good call and thanks!
- memetichazard 17y ago
  As much as I like that story, it doesn't seem to be quite as well received outside the HN/Reddit communities. Most people don't really enjoy/understand the concepts that much (or disagree with their use), and categorize it as crack (typically short fanfiction that contains amusing or interesting concept but lacks the depth or structure to qualify as being good fiction).
- lpr4 16y ago
  I really liked how Harry Potter tried to prove P=NP. http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/17/Harry_Potter_and_the_Methods_of_Rationality http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/17/Harry_Potter_and_the_...
hernan7 17y ago
I'm not sure about that Sturgeon's contrapositive... Are you sure that there is a 10% of, say, Goregrind or telenovelas or vampire romance that is not crap?