Fan fiction has been around for ages, quietly bubbling away on forums, zines, and fan sites long before the internet made it easy to share stories with thousands of strangers. These days, it’s more visible than ever, thanks to platforms like AO3, Wattpad, and Tumblr, not to mention all the fan edits floating around TikTok. If there’s a fandom, you can bet someone’s already written three versions of its characters kissing, fighting, or running a coffee shop together.
But while fanfic is rooted in love for the source material, it lives in a bit of a legal grey patch. We recently talked with the people at Podmore Legal https://podmorelegal.com/, a law firm with extensive experience in legal representation around Western Australia and Victoria. They helped shed some light on the sticky bits: copyright, fair use, and where fan fiction fits into all that. Spoiler alert: it’s complicated, but not impossible to navigate.
What Is Fan Fiction, Really?
Let’s be clear: fan fiction isn’t about trying to pass off someone else’s work as your own. It’s about building on characters and worlds that already exist, giving them new twists, new settings, or letting them make different choices. It might be Harry Potter as a rock star. Or Frodo working in a supermarket. Or a whole rewrite of a Marvel film where no one dies and they all go camping.
The heart of it is community. Most fanfic writers share their stories for free, often anonymously, and usually without expecting anything back apart from a few comments or kudos. It’s not about cashing in, it’s about having a space to play and connect with others who care about the same stories.
Why Writers and Readers Love It
For a lot of people, fan fiction is where their writing journey starts. It’s a sandbox. You already know the characters and the world, so you can jump straight into the fun bits. And you’re writing for readers who already care about those things too.
It also fills gaps that mainstream stories leave out. Fanfic has long been a home for more diverse storytelling: queer romance, neurodivergent characters, reimagined roles for women, you name it. If the show or book didn’t give you what you needed, someone in the fanfic space probably has.
Plus, there’s a strong sense of community support. Readers leave enthusiastic comments. Writers post updates in serialised chunks. There are in-jokes, collaborative projects, themed events. It’s very alive, very interactive, and very different from the lonely experience some folks associate with traditional writing.
The Copyright Elephant in the Room
Here’s where things get trickier. Fan fiction is built on someone else’s intellectual property. In the eyes of the law, that often makes it a “derivative work”—something based on an existing story, character, or universe.
Now, the big secret is that most fanfic exists in a sort of tolerated-but-not-legal limbo. Technically, rights holders could send takedown notices or even sue, but most of the time, they don’t. That doesn’t mean they approve; it just means they haven’t chosen to act.
The important bit here is that silence doesn’t equal permission. And that’s why understanding the basics of copyright is worth your time, even if you’re only writing stories for your mates to read on a Wednesday night.
Fair Use: The Grey Zone
Fair use is one of those terms people throw around like a magic spell. But it’s not a blanket excuse to do whatever you want with copyrighted stuff.
It refers to specific cases where using someone else’s work without permission is allowed. Things like parody, commentary, criticism, news reporting, and teaching fall under it. For fan fiction, it all depends on four key things: the purpose of the new work, the nature of the original work, how much of it gets used, and whether it affects the market for the original.
Writing a fun, non-commercial fic for free might seem harmless. But if it’s not clearly transformative enough—say, it just copies chunks of the original text or plot—it might not qualify for fair use. Parody or satire has a better shot, legally speaking, but most fanfic isn’t trying to mock or analyse. It’s trying to explore.
That’s not to say all fan fiction is illegal. But it sits in a place where each case would need to be looked at on its own. Courts don’t deal in vibes, unfortunately.
The Fanfic Culture Code
Despite the murky legal side, fanfic culture has its own unwritten rules that most folks follow. Don’t sell it. Always credit. Stay respectful to the original creators and each other. It’s kind of like an honour system, and it works pretty well.
Some authors are openly supportive of fan fiction (hello, Neil Gaiman). Others are firmly against it (Anne Rice was famously anti-fanfic for years). And a few sit somewhere in the middle, tolerating it as long as it stays respectful and non-commercial.
Most fanfic platforms are set up to avoid ruffling feathers. AO3 has strict non-commercial policies and plenty of disclaimers. Writers tag their work clearly and often include notes reminding readers that they don’t own the characters.
It’s not foolproof, but it helps maintain a sense of mutual understanding. Fans get to write what they love, and creators get to avoid messy legal drama.
The Legal Risks (and Why They’re Rare)
Here’s the thing: most fan fiction doesn’t land anyone in court. It’s low-stakes, hobby-level stuff that doesn’t really harm the original brand or profits. Rights holders have bigger things to worry about.
But problems can pop up when someone tries to publish or sell a fic-based work. This is where things get dicey. If your vampire love story is too similar to Twilight, and you put it on Kindle with a price tag, you might get a strongly worded letter.
That’s often the first step: a cease-and-desist. It’s a formal way of saying “please stop,” and it’s cheaper and faster than suing. If you get one, it’s wise to listen. Most people don’t want to go to court over a Loki fic they wrote in high school.
Now, there have been stories that crossed over into commercial territory. Fifty Shades of Grey started life as a Twilight fanfic. It got published after all the references were changed, but not without raising eyebrows. It shows how fanfic can evolve, but also how it might need to break ties with its source before going mainstream.
Tips for Staying on the Right Side
If you’re writing fanfic for fun, with no money changing hands, and you’re crediting the original creator, you’re probably not on anyone’s legal radar. But it’s still worth being mindful.
Avoid copying big chunks of original dialogue. Be careful if you plan to use a fic as the base for an original novel later. Keep an eye on the platform’s terms of service—some automatically monetise content or use it for training models, which could complicate things.
And if you ever get serious about publishing something inspired by fanfic roots, talk to someone who knows what they’re doing. A bit of early legal advice can save a lot of faffing about later.
Wrapping It Up
Fan fiction is a bit of a beautiful oddity: born out of love for stories, shaped by community, and quietly sitting on the edge of copyright law. It’s a space where creativity thrives, but it also asks for a bit of awareness and care.
As long as you’re writing for the joy of it, treating original creators with respect, and keeping the legal stuff in the back of your mind, you’re probably fine. The legal line isn’t always clear, but staying informed helps you tiptoe along it without stumbling into a mess. And frankly, that means more time spent writing and less time sweating over cease-and-desist letters.
Happy writing, and long live the fanfic weirdos.