An informative video for those who are interested:
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Benjamin, the interesting thing is that authors probably don't have the right to do that (ask that none of it be posted on the internet). There is a lot of Fair Use territory and also some ground that doesn't even fall under copyright where fanfic authors can operate, and there's no legal recourse for the author to stop it. If they have enough money they can just spend the fanfic author into oblivion with lawsuits, but that doesn't seem like a particularly moral thing to do.
…the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright.*
I hate fanfic. There's a special place in hell for those who write slash fiction. -_-
[* 17 U.S.C. § 107… which of course I'm reproducing under the Fair Use doctrine. Comment and teaching exemptions, obviously. Well, and assuming the U.S.C. is actually itself copyrighted… which I'm not clear on.]
Whether you like fanfic or not, we have people who write it on the forums. There is probably a more reasonable way to characterize them.
A lot of these fans have serious dedication. Why would you snuff them out?
It says for purposes "such as." It isn't an exhaustive list. Courts have applied the Fair Use analysis to fanfic cases, which wouldn't be necessary if fanfic didn't have the potential to fall under Fair Use. It is worth noting that fanfic could certainly be a vehicle for criticism or commentary as well.