Gah! Or, Dear Penthouse, I never thought this would happen to me...

[rivkat]

Tzikeh pointed out this site, which is offering various fan fiction stories for sale (along with what I presume are other, nonfannish stories published on the web, but I'm just guessing there). Imagine my surprise to find a story of mine listed on the XF page. I'm almost amused that they picked that story rather than, say, one of MustangSally's standalones, which gives you considerably more bang for your -- uh, 30 pence, apparently.

Highlander, Star Wars, Star Trek: TNG and XF were the main fandoms I saw -- Highlander is not explicitly listed, but it's the main entry under "slash." There also was some X-Men in there randomly. As for the XF, the selection principle was mysterious at best, though there were some good ones in there that I actually remembered.

I'm going to write and demand the removal of my story. Who knows what will happen next. Any UK folks out there willing to help a girl out with UK notice-and-takedown procedures? (Or perhaps general principles for getting the offer to sell withdrawn, since it's not clear the story is actually online.)

Comments

[ex-ajhalluk585.livejournal.com]

Dear Sirs

It has been brought to my attention that your archive at [ ] contains at [specific URL] a story entitled [ ] written by me [further background as appropriate]("the Work").

Your reproduction and dissemination of the Work on a for profit basis consitutes a breach of copyright contrary to the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988; your dissemniation of it anonymously also constitutes a breach of my moral right to be named as its author.

Pursuant to the provisions of the CDPA the deliberate having in your possession for commercial purposes of works which you know to be infringing works is also a criminal offence.

I am aware that you may consider that the rules applying to fanfiction may not be the same as those applying to other fiction; however, it is settled law [and I'll give you the refs if you want once I get a chance to look them up] that an independent copyright is capable of arising and subsisting in a work in relation to which a third party may claim some rights. Further and for the avoidance of doubt, the Work was sdevised and developed by me on a basis which did not infringe applicable copyrights.

Those bases explictly assumed that the workl would never be distributed commercially.

Accordingly, your action in distributing this work also has the potential to infringe the copyright of [name TPTB].

Unless it is removed from your archive by [deadline] I reserve the right to take all such actions as are open to me in these circumstances.

Yours"

[harriet-spy.livejournal.com]

your dissemniation of it anonymously also constitutes a breach of my moral right to be named as its author.

Just out of curiosity, does publishing a work under a pseudonym effectively waive the right of attribution, assuming that it's then reproduced in the same form?

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

Not in the US, but then the right of attribution is extremely limited. My guess is no in moral rights countries too, but I'd have to look it up.

[harriet-spy.livejournal.com]

*nods* I was thinking of moral rights countries like the UK.

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

*Thank* you. It's a little different from the way the American ones I see are worded, but the gist is the same. I would -- for these purposes and general knowledge -- love to get the cites for the derivative copyright issue.