[quote][quote]I wonder if he read "I, Kerensky" from my friend Rouge Barron. Because that mostly takes place on Engadine.[/quote]
Nope. To avoid any chance of "cross pollination" writers working for a licenser like WizKids never read any fanfic. Nor do they ever "look over" stories to give hopeful new authors pointers.
The most famous case illustrating why actually comes from an established author writing in her own universe -- not write for hire. Marion Zimmer Bradley's [b]Darkover[/b] series was -- still is -- one of the most popular in fantasy. It inspired a host of fanfic writers, many of whom sent their work to MJB as tokens of appreciation. Then a fanfic writer, reading the advance publicity for an upcoming [b]Darkover[/b] novel, claimed it was based on a story she had sent MJB the year before and sued the publisher and Ms. Bradley. Because MJB could not prove she'd never read the story -- not wanting to hurt fan's feelings, she'd never publicly stated she didn't read fanfic -- the publisher chose not to publish the book rather than pay the fanfic writer a percentage, then canceled the entire Darkover series. Whenever charges of plagiarism surface, the burden of proof lies with the professional author to establish she created an original work.
So it's up to every writer to make plain loudly and often that they don't look at other folks' work unless it's been professionally published. (I learned this writing for [b]Star Trek[/b]. Legend has it every single episode since the original series has been challenged by some fanfic writer or RPG GM claiming the premise was stolen from them.)
The guys and gals at FanBoy Comics have learned -- finally -- to not tell me their neat story ideas between arguments over terrain placement or whether a die at the edge of the table is canted. Like any other professional writer, if I hear it from you, I can never, ever use it in a story.[/quote]
Мдя. После этого комментарии Такахаси, что она терпеть не может фанфики, становятся оправданными.