My Position on Fan Art, Fan Fiction, Fan-Make, etc.
I firmly believe that fan-creations are a sign of health for any artistic property. I am always flattered when people want to spend extra time in my world and with my characters. There are a few pitfalls here, however, and authors have different ways of addressing them. Here are mine:
Visual Fan Artwork
I am generally delighted by visual fan art (images, dolls, cross-stitch, sculpture, etc) as long as you state clearly in the description where the world and/or characters came from and you’re not trying to sell it without a license. I enthusiastically share fan art when I find it. You do not need a license from me to make non-commercial, appropriately-attributed visual fan art.
Fan Fiction
Text-based fan fiction is a stickier subject. I am not interested in writing in a shared world. My canon is off-limits until I am dead. When my work is in the public domain, knock yourselves out!
Legally, best-practice is for me to pretend not to see fan fiction. I admit that I don’t always do this. However, I am nervous about interacting with fan fiction or linking to it because it is a legal mine-field. I do not want to lose control of my copyrights. (That is my main fear – not that you’ll make money on my work, but that I will lose control of my copyrights.)
Bottom line: if you want me to feel really free to interact with your fan fic and share it with my audience, you need to get a license from me. That license will give you legal permission to create “derivative works.” The license will also say that anything I create that is influenced by your fan fiction is mine alone and I do not owe you money or credit for any ideals that may pop up in my own canon creations due to reading your fan fiction.
If you obtain such a license from me, you are street-legal. This said, I do not promise to read fan fiction, even if you license it. I do not promise to critique it or give writing advice. Fan fiction is a gift to other fans, not to me.
Monetized Fan Creations (here’s where I really differ from other authors)
I am quite tolerant of fans making money in my world as long as you get a license from me first. I’m probably not going to give you a license for text-based stories to be published on retailers. Those have potential to confuse my readers. However, I will happily give you a license for many other kinds of monetized fan creations, including text-based stories in some forms. Unless you are a company, I’m probably not going to ask you for royalties. You can keep whatever you make, and I will happily link your work to my audience.
Examples:
You can sell commissioned artwork of my characters to other fans.
You can sell artwork of my characters printed on merch in places like Red Bubble (t-shirts, mugs, calendars, mousepads, etc).
You can make monetized pod-fic as long as it’s not on retailers and it’s clearly labeled as a non-canon fan-creation.
You can share your stories or art of my world and characters behind a paywall or on a site with advertising as long as it’s properly labeled and my own content is linked.
You can make a game based on my world. (If you are a company or a large kick-starter-backed endeavor, I will ask for royalties, but I’ll be reasonable).
You can make a D&D manual (OMG, please make a D&D manual. I get so many requests for this. I have no interested in making a D&D manual, but I will share yours and you can keep all the money…unless you are a gaming company or a large endeavor with backers, in which case I will want royalties, but I will be reasonable.)
The things you can do are practically limitless. I don’t have time to pursue all the good ideas myself! I just ask that you get a license from me first and link your source material (my books). Email me: abigail.hilton@pavoninebooks.com
If you would like to listen to me talk about this topic at length, you can listen to this podcast episode, recorded 8/31/2024.