Eighteenth-Century Fan Fiction, and Copyright Law

[rivkat]

(crossposted to fandom_lawyers)

Something a little different: Elizabeth Judge presents on eighteenth-century fan fiction and copyright law. Podcast downloadable from this page; Judge is about 30 minutes in. I suspect she'd send out the underlying paper if asked. (For more on eighteenth-century fan fiction, check out David A. Brewer, The Afterlife of Character, 1726-1825, which I reviewed here.)

Also of note: in the commentary period, commentator James Leach looks at the metaphor of author as parent and, using Claude Levi-Strauss, suggests that the author's unwillingness to share control of his creations with readers is something of an incest fantasy, since social order requires people to let their children marry outside the family. (He takes it back later, because characters never grow up and never need to live independently.)

Comments

[giandujakiss.livejournal.com]

Also, fanfic writers love them the incest.

Hel-lo!

[mustangsally78.livejournal.com]

You still have the babies, yes?

We would like to hear more of them.

Thank you.

:::snicker:::

Re: Hel-lo!

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

Yes, they remain cute. 2.0 is actually not all that interesting except to stare at -- she eats, poops and sleeps. Sometimes she spits up. Sometimes she varies the order. We find it fascinating, but I'm guessing it's less so for others. Rivkid the First is slowly adjusting to his new place in the world; fortunately he's a nice enough guy that he's not too mad.

Did you get the plaque?