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In a message dated 3/8/2009 1:08:12 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, Ladyhorsewhisperer44@... writes:
we do have all our stories and characters copyrighted as of Dec.02 of 2003. yes ,we have our characters copyrighted and our stories too. A great friend of ours had all her stories copyrighted since some of hers were stories were copy and her characters .so she hers done.
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Just a note to fan fic writers - you cannot copyright fan fiction. Anything in it is up for grabs, since you have already borrowed someone else's characters and story scenarios. Even with "real" fiction, there are things you cannot copyright, including character names, titles, characterizations, and even plots. Names and titles can be *trademarked* (like the name Luke Skywalker or the title Star Wars), in which case, you have exclusive use of them, but, a trademark and a copyright are not the same thing. You may copyright ORIGINAL work (that is, you created ALL of the characters yourself, and wrote it completely from scratch), simply by writing the word "Copyright" and the year on it somewhere. You can also obtain a formal copyright from the Library of Congress for a small feel. A *trademark* however, must be registered, and costs thousands of dollars - although, you cannot trademark fanfic, either.
Unfortunately, people are free to use anything in your fan fic that they want. As we have seen in the past, this usually results in the "offender" being roasted over hot fandom coals (virtually speaking), but, there is no legal recourse that can be taken. A few years ago, I had a guy print a copy of one of my Forever Knight stories with his own name as author and try to sell it as a 'zine at a con. Luckily, a couple of people there realized what he had done and came to my defense (I wasn't there), and his table was closed down. But, if he had succeeded, there would not have been a damn thing I could have done about it.
Nancy ^..^
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