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by spicycat 5411 days ago
This seems a little dangerous. Does this seem like monetizing fanfiction containing copyrighted characters in a non-direct way to anyone else?

I do like the story so far, and I'd hate for it to go poof because of legal issues.
1 comments
nico_h 5411 days ago
Only the release timeline would change, by a few days, not the writing or the releasing at all. But I am not a "copyright" lawyer.
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cperciva 5411 days ago
Copyright law doesn't care about whether this is "monetizing" or not. He's infringing simply by using JK Rowling's characters; he's safe only thanks to JK Rowling saying that she doesn't mind HP fanfiction as long as it's not obscene and non-commercial.

So the only real question here is: What does JK Rowling think of this?

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aw3c2 5411 days ago
She supports fanfiction but it has to be non-commercial. See eg http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3753001.stm
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cperciva 5411 days ago
Sure. My point is, this is all based on her whims, not on any legal definitions. So "non-commercial" in this context just means whatever JK Rowling wants it to mean in this context.
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mcherm 5411 days ago
Given that it's raising money for a charities, and that the donations only accelerate the publication rate, I would be surprised to see Rowling object when she hasn't objected to previous chapters.
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