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Fan fiction (also spelled '''fanfiction''' and commonly abbreviated to '''fanfic''' or '''fic''' when used in a singular sense) is Fiction written by people who enjoy a Film , Novel , Television Show or other media work, using the characters and situations developed in it and developing new plots in which to use these characters. Characters and props from more than one media work may also be incorporated into a single fanfiction (known as Crossovers ). It should be noted that in the pre-1965 era, the term '''fan fiction''' was used in Science Fiction Fandom to designate original amateur works of Science Fiction written by members of Fandom and published in Fanzine s, as opposed to fiction that was professionally published. This usage is now obsolete. HISTORY There are three theories in the fan fiction community as to when fan fiction first started. These definitions tend to be based on how the individual members of the fan fiction community define fan fiction. One theory holds that fan fiction has always been with us, dating back to the tradition of oral storytelling, so that any story about anyone other than a self-made original character would be considered fan fiction. Another theory holds that fan fiction could not exist until the creation of copyright law, since fan fiction is about reinterpreting officially sanctioned texts and reinventing them for the fan's own needs. As such, fan fiction would not have existed until the first copyright law, which went on the books in 1620 in England. The third theory holds that fan fiction did not officially start until the creation of ''Star Trek'' fandom and the printing of original stories by fans in their own fanzines. This theory acknowledges that much of the groundwork was laid by the earlier science fiction fandom, with its amateur press publications. Thus, earlier pastiche traditions such as Sherlock Holmes' Baker Street Irregulars would not be considered fan fiction. Fans of Sherlock Holmes in the early part of the 20th century called themselves the Baker Street Irregulars . They wrote original stories and articles analyzing his life and work, taken from the perspective that Holmes was real. It was the Irregulars who gave the name Canon to the officially recognized body of work from which they inspire themselves. At this time, the genre was generally referred to as Pastiche . Today, pastiche is generally used to refer to a written work that builds on an existing original story or outline. Some authors create formalised Shared Universes , actively encouraging others to write about their original characters and settings, contributing to the development of the whole. Besides the Baker Street Irregulars, the most consistent and long-running shared universe has been H.P. Lovecraft 's Cthulhu Mythos which has seen both professional and fan contributions for more than fifty years. Fan fiction has in recent years become much more widespread thanks to the Internet , where it flourishes despite the possibility that it infringes the Copyright of the film, book, TV show or other media on which it is based. The scope of fan fiction has widened considerably, allowing many more people than previously possible to share and critique fanfiction. Even a few of the authors of the original works on which the fan fiction is based may be among the readers. Archives of stories have grown in the web environment. Some, like FanFiction.Net , have millions of stories - all carefully organised and crossindexed, and freely available. The web has also encouraged events like annual awards, competitions and even conferences all based around fan fiction. Some writers of essays about fan fiction suggest that fan fiction is simply a new incarnation of folk storytelling: amateur storytellers are still making up new stories about their favorite characters for "amateur," uncritical audiences, but now those characters are Draco Malfoy and Sailor Moon instead of Brer Rabbit and Hercules . TYPES OF FANFICTION Original fanfiction It is worth noting that there is no such thing as an "original fanfic". The term is a Misnomer that is sometimes applied to completely original amateur works. Not all amateur fiction is fan fiction. Among Anime / Manga fans, 'original fanfic' (or "original fic" or "orig!fic") is used to refer to an original work that uses anime/manga style themes and plot devices, settings and names. "Original fanfiction" may also refer to a story which takes place in an established universe, such as ''Star Wars'' or ''Lord of the Rings'', but uses none of the established characters; this practice is also known as "genfic". Some fanfiction authors use the term to refer to conceptually independent writings which have a (normally small) reference to some known fandom. For example, a normal dramatic Romance story may begin with a character taking a train at King's Cross Station might be viewed as "original fanfiction" based on Harry Potter , even if nothing else related to the Potter universe happens in the story. Alternative universe ''Main article: Alternative Universe (fan Fiction) '' An AU (''alternative universe'' or ''alternate universe'') story involves fan fiction which makes major changes to the Canonical storyline or premise, such as killing off the main character, changing characters' motives or alliances or, commonly, changing the setting. Generally, to be considered an ''alternative universe'' story, the change must be something that would be extremely unlikely to happen in canon, or must be contradicted by new canon information that was not released when the story was first written. For example, in the '' Harry Potter '' universe, a story in which Draco Malfoy becomes a rock star would be considered AU, as would a story about Cedric Diggory's adult life written prior to the release of Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire , in which Cedric dies before reaching adulthood. Most forms of Crossover are, by default, a form of AU, since in most cases, the characters of either story would not be likely to even meet or in some cases exist in the same universe as each other. However, most crossovers are not labeled as AU, possibly for the sake of avoiding redundancy, as one would normally assume that either events or settings in a crossover story would be AU. "Über" Fanfiction ''Main article: Überfic '' Über-fic is a form of AU story where the characters are completely removed from their canon context. The character is given a completely new background to fit them into a different universe. An example would be stories featuring Sherlock Holmes living and working in New York City in 2006 , or in the Star Trek or Harry Potter settings. Characters usually retain their names, appearance, personality and often their social standing, but are integrated into other fandom. No mention is made of their origins, except perhaps as a form of Dramatic Irony . Such stories originated within and are still most common among the '' Xena '' fan fiction community, but can also be found in '' Star Trek '', '' Harry Potter '' and '' InuYasha '' communities. Many Über stories deal with a romance between two of the characters, feature reincarnation as part of the theme, and contain a sense of repeated destiny. Crossover ''Main article: Fictional Crossover '' Another fan fiction sub-genre is the ''crossover story'', in which either characters from one story exist in (or are transported to) another pre-existing story's world, or more commonly, characters from two or more stories interact. An example would be the human refugee fleet led by the . Series which share similar traits (such as Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Charmed , which both have young women with supernatural powers fighting evil), are spin-offs of each other (such as Angel and Buffy The Vampire Slayer ), or have actors or writers in common are more likely to be the subject of crossovers. However, crossovers can be and often are written featuring sources or characters which might seem to have almost nothing in common. Common methods of setting up a crossover story include:
Crossovers most frequently feature characters from two or more stories either teaming up to solve a problem, or facing off against each other in a conflict, if not both. An example of this might be if Sonic The Hedgehog joined forces with Crash Bandicoot to defeat Dr. Eggman and Dr. Neo Cortex , or if the titular characters of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Harry Potter were to join forces to defeat Lord Voldemort . Crossovers have also been notorious for fusing subjects from different age ratings. Examples would be that the title character from the child-friendly adventure series . Critics often point to the crossover genre as usually being one of the most poorly written, though this is probably due to the unique difficulties of combining two or more different stories, and/or the sub-genre's popularity with young and usually inexperienced writers, who make up the majority of fanfiction writers online. However, some writers do attempt crossover precisely because of the challenges it presents, especially crossovers between stories that seem to have very little in common, such as for example Harry Potter and Tru Calling . Virtual seasons ''Main article: Virtual Season '' The virtual season is usually a collaborative effort to produce a compilation of fan stories or scripts portraying episodes of an entire season for a television program -- often one that has been cancelled or is no longer producing new episodes. Often, these writers will elect members of their group to be the imaginary Producer s, Head Writer s, Editor s, and other traditional roles to aid in the coordination of the virtual season's material, direction, and continuity. Every effort is made to reproduce and carry on the details of the program as professionally as possible. The most serious of these teams produce Fan Films such as Star Trek, New Voyages . Dōjinshi ''Main article: Dōjinshi '' Dōjinshi is a Japanese term for self-published works, usually Manga , Novels , fan guides, art collections, and Games . The dōjinshi format is most famous in other countries for its Manga -format fan fiction, which is allowed to be sold for a small profit (in small runs) in Japan; this is not officially legal in that country, but the general practice by the copyright owners in Japan is to allow it, most likely because aside from possibly keeping more fans interested in the original work for longer (something fan fiction is sometimes credited for by some people in the U.S.), it also fosters budding artists and writers before they turn pro (a good example of this is CLAMP , an all-female Manga -creation team that started out in dōjinshi and eventually became one of the most popular makers of original fiction manga in the world with titles such as Magic Knight Rayearth and Cardcaptor Sakura ). The foreign, English-speaking Anime and manga fandom as a whole appropriated the term and generally uses it exclusively to mean manga-format fan fiction, which some of them also produce (though usually publish to the web for free viewing, as copyright owners in western countries tend to be less lenient when it comes to unsanctioned for-profit dervitive works, including those in manga/comic book form). Mary Sue ''Main article: Mary Sue '' Mary Sue (''Sue'' for short, and usually specifically female; the male equivalent is referred to as anything from ''Marty Sue'', ''Marty Stue'' or ''Marty Stu'', to ''Gary Stue'' or ''Gary Stu'', to even ''Marty Sam'') is a pejorative term that refers to characters perceived as being badly-characterized and unsympathetic, often written in a cliche manner, who usually dominate the story they appear in, whether through upstaging the established characters, romancing one or more established characters, or having her own story set in the same universe in which she is the star. ''Mary Sue'' most often refers to a heavily idealized character, and as such, most argue that characters they perceive as ''Mary Sues'' lack any significant or noteworthy flaws, and thus are unrealistic. Most characters labeled as ''Mary Sues'' happen to be OCs (see: ''original character''), but some maintain that even established characters (referred to as ''canon characters'' or sometimes ''canons'') can be made into a ''Sue'', or that characters in ''original fiction'' can be one as well. Many, but not all, ''Mary Sues'' are also ''self-inserts'' (see: ''self-insert''). Anti Mary-Sues An anti Mary-Sue is the product of an author doing everything that he/she can to prevent their characters from becoming a Mary-Sue. Normally, an anti Mary-Sue will be physically unattractive, not powerful in the least, hated by most canon characters or else just not interact with them at all, and will most likely be nothing short of an utter and complete failure. Many readers find these OCs to be refreshing, being more believable than the dreaded Mary-Sue, and therefore more easy to relate to. Incidentally, there are many who state that anti Mary-Sues can be almost as bad, if not worse, as a Mary-Sue. Self-Insert ''See also: Author Character '' ''Self-insertion'' consists of an author writing him- or herself into the story in one role or another. The resulting "character" is usually referred to as a ''self-insert''. The term is often closely associated with Mary Sue s, but does not actually exclusively apply to the kinds of characters typically labeled a Mary Sue; if an author uses self-insertion in a humorous manner (especially portraying themselves as foolish or buffoon-like), they may be able to get away with not being criticized for creating a "Mary Sue". It's a common mistake to confuse the terms "Mary Sue" and "self-insert", especially since generally, Mary Sues are seen as being the kind of person the author wishes they could be and often ''are'' a form of idealized self-insertion, but the two terms do have two distinct meanings. Many times, a writer will write a Mary Sue as a relative, long lost friend, or possibly (or most likely) love interest to a canon character, which is sometimes an annoyance to those who read it depending on how it is handled. An example would be all of the twins of Draco Malfoy that just happen to suddenly and miraculously pop into Hogwarts during Harry's sixth year, or all of the illegitamate daughters constantly given to characters such as Sirius Black, Severus Snape, or even Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter fandom. The recurring 'Harry's long-lost twin sister' OC is especially popular. Sometimes (mostly, actually) these OCs are created in a vain attempt for the author to self-insert herself into her story, but this is not always the case. Original Characters An Original Character (OC) is a character originated by a fan author, as opposed to being a character who comes from the canon source. The label "OC" includes everything from bystanders, to minor characters, to major characters. Almost all characters in original fiction are OCs (save perhaps for historical figures), so the terms ''Original Character'' and ''OC'' have a completely different contextual meaning depending on whether one is speaking of original or fan fiction. Alternate Pairings ''Pairing'' means romantic or erotic involvement. An alternate pairing is a relationship between characters who are not involved in the canon. Many fandoms have defined pairings based on hints in the original story. A canon containing many changing relationships is more apt to generate fan fictions with alternative pairings. Fans often refer to relationships as a "ship" and people who are in favor of two particular characters pairing up are called "shippers." Slash Slash is a subgenre of the Alternate Pairings paradigm that addresses a relationship between characters of the same gender. The expression comes from the late 1970 s, when the "/" symbol began to be used to designate a sexual relationship specifically between Kirk / Spock . Stories depicting simple friendship between these characters used an ampersand. Another early homosexual pairing in fanfiction was Starsky And Hutch . Stories with male homosexual pairings are the most common. Lesbian relationships are often referred to as "femmeslash" to distinguish them from the male/male pairing stories. Some readers prefer to call Lesbian slash "Saffic" (from ' Sapphic ' and ' Fiction '), feeling this term is more specific. Fans of Japanese manga or anime refer to male homosexual pairings as '' Yaoi '' or '' Shounen-ai '' and Lesbian pairings as '' Yuri '' or '' Shoujo-ai '', with the latter term for each generally being associated most with more romance-centered stories. Slash fiction varies from innocent romance to explicit erotica. Some fans hold the opinion that a homoerotic or homoromantic fan fiction story is only slash if it is a non-canon pairing and neither character is canonically homo- or bisexual. As of . ''See also: Shipping (fandom) , Shōnen-ai , Yaoi , Yuri (animation) '' Het "Het" classifies a story which has as its main focus a heterosexual relationship. Again, stories may vary from innocent romance to explicit erotica. Lemon and lime Explicit sex stories, especially in anime fan fiction, are known as Lemon , which comes from a Japanese slang term meaning "sexy". The term Lime denotes a story that has sexual themes but is not necessarily explicit. "Lemon" stories without much plot other than sex are also referred to as ''smutfics'' or as PWP s ("Porn Without Plot" or "Plot? What Plot?"). These terms are also used to describe original amateur fiction that is published on line. Until 2005 , "lemon" stories on multi-genre online archives were labeled using the MPAA ratings system. The MPAA sent cease and desist letters to several fan fiction sites, threatening legal action over the usage of their copyrighted system to rate content that was not rated by they themselves or anyone affiliated with them. The archive sites thus resorted to using warning labels for content. Other archives rate sexually explicit stories as "X" (which is no longer part of the MPAA system), created their own rating systems, or switched to using the Public Domain Fiction Rating System (as Fanfiction.net has). Real person fiction ''Main article: Real Person Fiction '' Real Person Fiction also called "RPF" is written about real people such as actors, politicians, athletes and musicians. Fanfic as pastiche Fan fiction also exists in the form of independent, fan-produced Pastiche s and Parodies of established works, including fan-produced Film and Video . The first such parody was 1978's Hardware Wars . One of the best known is '' Troops '', a parody of the Reality Television show '' Cops '', depicting '' Star Wars '' Imperial Stormtrooper s on patrol. Another lesser-known fan-produced film is ''Batman: Dead End'', by Sandy Collora. Sherlock Holmes , the Cthulhu Mythos and several of Edgar Rice Burroughs ' fantasy series have fan fiction pastiche communities. This tradition comes from the establishment of literary societies, dating back to the 1930s and 1940s. These societies attracted both professional and fan writers. They practice a semi-professional level of publication of fan fiction of a more sophisticated literary nature, both in print quality, community expectations and orientation. ''Star Trek'' fans quickly developed a pastiche community around the Kraith series, which began appearing in fanzines in 1967 and had about thirty contributors. Probably the best-known example of such a community as of 2006 would be the followers of Marion Zimmer Bradley 's Darkover series. Songfic ''Main article: Songfic '' A songfic is a story, often a One-shot , where the lyrics to a song, or sometimes a poem, are included in the body of the writing and connected to the story. Songfic is somewhat controversial, as the RIAA sued or threatened to sue websites over the publication of complete song lyrics, claiming copyright violation not protected under "fair use". Some fiction archives have banned songfics for this reason, or allow it only if the song is in Public Domain and/or the creation of the author of the piece. Like several other forms of fanfiction, Fanfiction.net has banned this type of fic from their site. One-shot A one-shot means that the fanfiction will start and end in only one chapter. There is no definite length of a one-shot fanfiction: you can have it short, more of the average, long, or longer than the usual. In most one-shots, writers prefer to just stick with the characters, than to make an original character. If they do make an original character, he/she may just play a minor character, not at all necessary to a one-shot. Two-shots This is an evolved form of one-shot. It means that the story will start on the first chapter and is destined to end on the second. This is generally used when there is a high-demand from an author's one-shot and decides to make another chapter. Usually, cliffhangers are placed on the first chapter, so readers will have the eagerness to read the second and final one. Two-shots are not as famous as their sister (and we can also say mother, since this is its evolved form) one-shot. Hatefics A hatefic is written not by a fan of a particular series, but by a detractor. It is meant to ridicule the story or characters that the author dislikes. Hatefic can go as far as so-called anti-fic, in which the author spitefully kills off the despised character(s) -- not as part of a heroic sacrifice or other usual use of character death. MSTings ''Main article: MSTing '' MSTing s (Sometimes called MiSTings) are not fan fiction in the true sense. They are commentaries on fan fiction stories, written in the style of the television show Mystery Science Theater 3000 . In ''Mystery Science'', a man and some homemade robots trapped on a spaceship watch bad movies and make humorous comments about them. For written MSTings, bad fan fiction is used. Generally speaking, MSTers follow a code of conduct , though some places such as Fandomination.net and Project A.F.T.E.R. have MSTings which clearly violate these "rules." One of the least respected rules is that MSTing authors should always obtain permission from the author(s) of the fanfics that they are MSTing. Although MSTings originated as MST3K fanfics some people have used the MSTing format with an original cast instead of the MST3K characters. Mystery Octagon Theater , ImproFicRoast , Elmer Studios , and the Nancing Pony (see Nancing Pony ) are some of the more well known writers of Non-Standard MSTings, as they are called. IT should be noted that Fanfiction.net has banned MSTings from their website. Drabble ''Main article: Drabble '' The term drabble originates from the 1971 book ''Monty Python’s Big Red Book'': "Drabble. A word game for 2 to 4 players. The four players sit from left to right and the first person to write a novel wins." The term was picked up by the science fiction fan community, then spread to professional science fiction. Generally, a fan fiction drabble consists of a paragraph or two featuring a character monologue, description of a character or setting, etc. However, drabble can also mean a story of precisely 100 words. Fanon Fanon refers to invented facts or situations which are used frequently in fan fiction so as to become seen by many as an extended part of the canon. An example of fanon from early ''Star Trek'' fan fiction was the expression ''ni var'', meaning "two forms". Conceived by linguist Dorothy Jones Heydt for her Vulcan Conlang , ''ni var'' referred to an art form in which two contrasting aspects of a subject were compared. The term first appeared in 1967 and was picked up, along with other expressions from Heydt's Vulcan language, and used fairly consistently by fan writers. In 1976 , Claire Gabriel's Star Trek story Ni Var was professionally published in an anthology. She forgot to credit Heydt, or perhaps the term had become so indigenous that she was unaware of its origin. Many of today's fans believe Gabriel coined the term. The story was so popular that the writers of the Star Trek-based series ''Enterprise'' called a Vulcan starship ''Ni Var''. REVIEWS AND FLAMING Many fan fiction websites give readers the option of leaving reviews, where they can express their thoughts on the story. Usually, the review is directed at the author, letting him or her know what the reader thought of the story or giving hints on how to fix the story up. Reactions can range from constructive criticism to Flaming . Flaming is the word used to describe a derogatory (and usually hurtful) review in which a reviewer goes further than just criticizing the work, and actually attempts to sound rude and, usually, obnoxious. Flames are commonly used by reviewers when they truly and utterly hate a story, and want the author to know this. The use of profanity is usually high in flames, and as are various insults. Normally, actual criticism is rarely written into a flame; only hate. LEGAL ASPECTS According to current U.S. Copyright , copyright owners have the right to control or restrict the publishing of "derivative works" based on their material, though they do not receive ownership of those works. The owner of the original work (film, TV show, etc.) therefore may have some legal power over fan fiction, though the laws as written do not address the issue directly. Since American copyright law specifically protects parody, and also includes a provision that the specifically protected categories are not necessarily the only protected categories, fan fiction remains in a legal gray area. But even without an official ruling on the legality of fan fiction, the owners of intellectual property can exert a great deal of influence on fans. For instance, a Cease And Desist letter from an entity with deep pockets exerts a great deal of influence on a single person who can scarcely afford legal representation. Conversely, the bad publicity and ill will generated by attacking one's own fan base can give even a large corporation second thoughts about conducting a legal campaign against fan writers. It must also be noted that, separate from copyright issues, many characters in American television and film productions are also Registered Trademark s of the producing company. However, this only requires that fan fiction producers make certain that their work cannot be confused with the trademark holder, and does not claim to be endorsed or produced by them; it does not ban the use of a character any more than the registered trademark status of Coca-Cola prohibits its mention here. Most authors avoid legal trouble by including short disclaimers at the beginnings of stories or chapters. Also, fan writers argue that their work does not cost the owner of the source material any income, and often acts as free promotion, while fan writers themselves earn no profit. Legally, copyright (and trademark) infringement can still occur even when the infringers do not profit; however, the non-profit nature of fan fiction is important legally, because it limits or eliminates the damages that a court could find and also makes possible some defense against claims of infringement under copyright Fair Use . Most major studios and production companies tolerate fan fiction, and some even encourage it. Paramount , for example, has allowed the production of two series of '' Star Trek '' fan fiction anthologies, ''Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,'' a series of seven anthologies of fan fiction selected by contest, and Bantam's ''Star Trek: The New Voyages'' which followed Bantam's ''Star Trek Lives'' by reprinting stories from various fanzines. A noted exception is Lucasfilm , which has threatened or sued many sites precisely because of their non-commercial nature. Strangely, though, the company encourages fan-produced films, and once made available a small library of sound effects. Most writers and producers do not read fan fiction, somewhat ironically, for fear that they might be accused of stealing a fan's ideas. But many encourage it: When Buffy The Vampire Slayer went off the air, for instance, creator Joss Whedon encouraged fans to read fanfiction during the show's timeslot. J. K. Rowling says she loves fan fiction of all kinds, though she admits to finding some of the works to be 'quite bizarre'. Douglas Adams also reportedly appreciated fan fiction based on his works, to the extent that some would say that there are scenes in '' So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish '' that seem to be inspired by fan fiction. Noteworthy in regard to acceptance of fan fiction is '' featuring fan fiction and fan-non-fiction alongside his original work. Flint contends that this allows the expansion of the alternate history universe into something approaching the complexity of reality. Also noteworthy is the series of '', David Weber and Mercedes Lackey . Some television producers have implemented similar constraints, one example being '' Babylon 5 '' creator J. Michael Straczynski . His demand that ''Babylon 5'' fan fiction be clearly labeled or kept off the net confined most of the ''Babylon 5'' fan fiction community to mailing lists. The repercussions of this incident are still being felt to date. Anne Rice also aggressively prevents any fan fiction of any of her characters (mostly those from her famous '' Interview With The Vampire '' book) or anything to do with any of her books. Similar efforts have also been taken by George R. R. Martin , author of the famous '' Song Of Ice And Fire '' series, among other fantasy and science fiction novels. Many authors do this, they claim, in order to protect their intellectual copyright and prevent any dilution, saturation and distortion of the universes and people portrayed in their works. A few of their disillusioned (and embittered) fans have alleged possible jealousy and/or self righteousness. One curious case is that of Larry Niven 's '' Known Space '' universe. In an author's note in ''The Ringworld Engineers'', Niven stated that he was finished writing stories in this universe, and that " you want more ''Known Space'' stories, you'll have to write them yourself." Internet writer Elf Sternberg took him up on that offer, penning a Parody in which members of Niven's hyper-masculine Kzin species engage in gay sex and BDSM . [http://www.drizzle.com/~elf/other/The_Only_Fair_Game.html Niven responded by denouncing Sternberg's story in the introduction to a later volume and issuing a cease-and-desist for copyright violation. To date, Sternberg holds that the story is constitutionally protected parody while Niven maintains that it is a copyright violation (but has not legally pursued the matter further). [http://interviews.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/03/10/167206&mode=thread&tid=134&tid=192 In Russia , where copyright laws have been lax at best, it is not uncommon to see fan fiction based on the work of popular authors published in book form. Sergey Lukyanenko , a popular science fiction author, went as far as to incorporate some fan fiction based on his stories into official Canon (with permission of the writers of the said fan fiction). Perhaps the most famous case, however, is Dmitri Yemets ' '' Tanya Grotter '' book series, based on Harry Potter (which provoked a lawsuit from J. K. Rowling). In the United States , tie-in novels have the curious status of officially sanctioned, for-profit fan fiction. Series from '' Star Trek '' to '' Buffy The Vampire Slayer '' have numerous books that exist outside the canonical world of the series, much like fan fiction, but which have the official sanction of the show's creators. The refusal by Paramount Pictures (owners of the ''Trek'' franchise) to allow printed adventures to be considered part of the Canon has led many fans to consider the books to be fan fiction despite their legal and licensed status. The official '' Star Wars '' book series is part of the continuity of the ''Star Wars'' universe, and cannot strictly be considered fan fiction, either. In Japan the writing and even sale of fan fiction (especially in the form of Doujinshi ) is totally legal, and in many cases encouraged. It is looked on, more often than not, as a form of advertising, a similar attitude to that developed by many sectors of the recording industry toward Tape Trading . In some cases, the actual creators of anime and manga series have even produced doujinshi based on their own works, without the involvement or approval of their publishers. While such stories can be useful in determining authorial intent, because of their unofficial status they are usually not considered canon. The attitude of copyright holders toward incorporating fan fiction into the canon varies. It is generally the case that the writers hired for a television or movie are under strict orders not to read fan fiction out of fear that doing so will cause the copyright holder to be sued later for infringement. However, some copyright holders such as the case of the BBC and '' Doctor Who '' have mechanisms to allow for unsolicited submissions of stories into the official canon, and it is also the case that the writers of canon stories have sometimes been recruited from fan fiction writers. FAN FICTION TIMELINES Slash timeline 1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
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