ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the number of possible reasons for a content owner to object to fanfic, but the probable reasons fall into three general categories. First, the owner may object to the way in which the original material is used or depicted. US copyright law recognizes only economic, not moral, rights in copyrighted works and characters, and provides no relief to the content owner in the absence of an actual infringement of copyright. Second, the owner may object because the fanfic, by anticipating the author's future work, exposes the author to liability for copyright infringement in his or her future work. Third, the owner may object because the fanfic or other fan work borrows too extensively from his or her copyrighted work. The copyright treatment of species of imaginary creatures in Canada and the United Kingdom seems to lead to the same conclusion that a fictional alien species is not, in itself, protected by copyright.
