Annie said:
Just a note on copyright law. You can *not* copyright a character name or situation. You can only trademark a name... and even then the trademark
isn't
considered to have been violated unless the use of the name could possibly
be
confused (by the public) with the original.
Quite true. However, the copyright proprietor does have the right to determine the use of the characters in sequels, crossovers, and other "derivative works."
It is the very fact that you can not copyright characters and situations
that
have many fans (some of them lawyers) arguing that fan fiction and the
like
constitute "fair use."
Once again, it's a question of which right in the copyright "bundle" is at issue. Personally I don't think that a fair use defense is applicable to the creation of unauthorized derivative works, only to use of an entire work in a non-profit academic situation or to quotation of an arguably excessive amount in the context of commentary or debate.
-(Y)