> How many Game of Thrones sequels would there be already? I don't find this scary. Presumably people should favor the ones written by the original author, bec

> How many Game of Thrones sequels would there be already? I don't find this scary. Presumably people should favor the ones written by the original author, because they would expect it to be more true to the spirit that they liked in the earlier works. However, if some people prefer to read works by competing authors, then that would be good for them, and too bad for Martin. The notion of being able to assess property rights over a universe of fiction (beyond the original copyright interpretation of ownership of the actual work and adaptations of the work in its fixed form) are a new and dangerous notion, I think. Lots of artistic creativity is discouraged or impossible today because of the unclear legal status of fan fiction, or of works that are inspired by another work but cannot afford to pay a license for them. I find this far more worrying than the consequences of depriving rightholders from exclusivity rights on the universes created by authors.