(no subject)

[rest of story snipped]

Wow ... I usually heard the story from the other side: Bradley is about to publish a novel when she realizes some fan wrote a dangerously close fanfic, tries to settle the situation, and gets jacked up by said fan.

I won't pretend to know which side is right: the fan's version sounds more true to my jaded ears ... although the presence of lawyers makes me wonder if both sides aren't telling the truth, from their own perspectives ...

At any rate, this is the canonical "stolen idea" story, no matter who was the pilferer. (I also have to agree with the quoted writer that it's *another* reason not to write fanfic. Well, not to show it to strangers, anyway.)

Frank Mitchell wrote:

The presence of lawyers doesn't necessarily mean both sides are telling the truth, just from their own perspectives. My parents are real-estate agents, and one time my mom helped a client buy a house. Turned out the seller lied about some important damage information, and the buyer sued the settler. That was all right, since the seller clearly was in the wrong, but lawyers advised the buyer to sue my mom as well, even though my mom had also been deceived by the seller and had acted on good faith. That was a case where the presence of lawyers didn't mean that both sides were in the right, since one side was clearly in the wrong in both the seller/buyer suit and in the buyer/realtor suit.

While I don't think it's a good enough reason not to write fanfic, I DO think it's a good enough reason not to show it to absolute strangers unless they happen to be fans as well, AND good enough reason to check before you write a fanfic and make certain that your story isn't EXACTLY like an episode or book that you're basing the fanfic on.

Belle Book