Continuing abandoned stories? Whats the procedure?

[Tharkibudda]

The author seemed to have stopped this story 4 years ago.

https://www.literotica.com/s/the-village-is-no-place-for-girls-ch-01

I tried contacting him many times but he never answered so the account looks dead. SHall I continue his story for part 5
If so,whats the procedure?

 

[SimonDoom]

There is no procedure. You should not continue an author's story without the author's approval.

Under Literotica's rules, the author retains all copyrights in his or her story. Under US Copyright, the copyright includes the exclusive right to make a "derivative work" of the original work. A sequel or completion of an incomplete story would be a derivative work, so without obtaining the author's express permission you would be violating the author's copyright, regardless of whether the author remains active on the site.

 

[lovecraft68]

The standard advice on this is what Simon posted, you really shouldn't continue it.

However, if you look at the February Sucks thread in story feedback, dozens of authors have written a different ending to it, and most before the author posted he'd give people permission, and apparently the site has no issue with it and the author hasn't bothered going after any of the stories written without permission.

So, the answer isn't can you, because this proves you can, its should you? Keep in mind my example is in Loving wives where other authors think they know better than the original authors

 

[Euphony]

Top line: Nope. Don't do.

There are regular threads (search) that cover all the minutia involved in getting genuine permission to continue someone else's work. Morals/ethics/copyright has been covered and rehashed a ton.

Also, with such a short, unfinished story, you might be better served creatively to change details/scenario enough to where you aren't stealing. It's not particularly deep so there's not much to trip over. You can easily write your own tale w/o aping their specifics.

 

[KeithD]

The author seemed to have stopped this story 4 years ago.

https://www.literotica.com/s/the-village-is-no-place-for-girls-ch-01

I tried contacting him many times but he never answered so the account looks dead. SHall I continue his story for part 5
If so,whats the procedure?

The procedure in this circumstance is to walk away and leave the series alone.

 

[StillStunned]

The only correct and ethical way is to continue the story in your head.

 

[OverconfidentSarcasm]

The standard advice on this is what Simon posted, you really shouldn't continue it.

However, if you look at the February Sucks thread in story feedback, dozens of authors have written a different ending to it, and most before the author posted he'd give people permission, and apparently the site has no issue with it and the author hasn't bothered going after any of the stories written without permission.

So, the answer isn't can you, because this proves you can, its should you? Keep in mind my example is in Loving wives where other authors think they know better than the original authors

Why use "February Sucks" as an example, when the site has entire accounts that have been specifically created to "finish" other authors' stories?

@OP:
Regardless of what other people say (on a site that literally has a fan fiction category while regularly allowing fan-continuations to remain in their catalog), there is such a thing as fair use. As long as you credit the original author, don't claim to have come up with the original story yourself, and actually write your own story instead of just copying stuff from someone else... there is no legal problem either.

But, keep in mind that authors don't like it when people take their work and write fan fiction. It's basically telling an author that you think you can do better... while simultaneously being incapable of thinking of an actual story yourself.

 

[NightPorter]

Just because something is tolerated/ignored doesn’t mean there isn’t a legal issue with fan fiction. Which is pretty much what continuing someone else’s story is. At any point this site could receive a cease and desist and be forced to remove copyrighted material or face a lawsuit.

I also think you don’t understand the intent of fair use…

 

[SimonDoom]

What Lovecraft said is correct. There are three different things to consider:

1. What's legal under copyright law.

2. What's ethical.

3. What this site will let you get away with.

It's substantially up to your conscience to decide which of these principles to follow, or whether to follow all of them. If the Site let's you do it, then it's very unlikely that anybody is going to sue you.

Laurel sent me this message in response to my question on this issue:

"Our policy on works derivative of other Literotica author's creations is: to avoid conflicts after posting we ask that you please contact the original author and get permission before submitting and let readers know in the intro to the story that you have such permission. Also, please credit the original author's story. If the original author has given blanket permission within the text of the original story, then the continuing author does not need to ask for specific permission. However, if the original author requests that we remove any derivative work, we will remove it - even if permission was given previously."

So as far as the Site is concerned, you are SUPPOSED to get prior permission, but as a matter of practice some stories appear to get through. In any case, if the original author wants your sequel story taken down, the Site will take it down.

Others may have different views, but I think it's unethical to write a subsequent chapter or sequel to an unfinished story by a Literotica author without the author's permission, regardless of what Literotica lets people get away with or what copyright law will allow.

I also adamantly disagree that it's a fair use. No, it is not. I'm not aware of any legal authority that would treat a continuation of a copyrighted story as a fair use. I think this is dead wrong as a matter of law. People justify this on the ground that fanfiction is a fair use, but that's not what the law says. Fanfiction is a strange phenomenon that probably is a form of copyright infringement but that for various practical reasons most famous authors choose not to pursue legally (but some do). The fact it's tolerated doesn't make it, legally, fair use. One should not extrapolate from the existence of fanfiction that continuing a Literotica author's story is a form of fair use, either. It's not.

 

[lc69hunter]

Why use "February Sucks" as an example, when the site has entire accounts that have been specifically created to "finish" other authors' stories?

@OP:
Regardless of what other people say (on a site that literally has a fan fiction category while regularly allowing fan-continuations to remain in their catalog), there is such a thing as fair use. As long as you credit the original author, don't claim to have come up with the original story yourself, and actually write your own story instead of just copying stuff from someone else... there is no legal problem either.

But, keep in mind that authors don't like it when people take their work and write fan fiction. It's basically telling an author that you think you can do better... while simultaneously being incapable of thinking of an actual story yourself.

I didn't know this existed. I have been wanting to write a second chapter to a story written in 2012, by an author who last published in 2013, but who has not responded to my request, Does this give me permission to complete the story, as long as I give credit to the original author, and her work?

 

[AwkwardlySet]

There is a simple solution to your problem. Instead of continuing this story, write a new story inspired by this one. Create your own characters and plot that can resemble the originals, while still having some differences. That way you have the freedom to "correct" whatever you thought wasn't perfect in the original story and you don't need permission from the original author, although it would be impolite (well more like a dick move) not to mention the original author as well as the fact that your story is inspired by the original one. It is a win-win, and you also get to continue the story any way you want.

 

[KeithD]

I didn't know this existed. I have been wanting to write a second chapter to a story written in 2012, by an author who last published in 2013, but who has not responded to my request, Does this give me permission to complete the story, as long as I give credit to the original author, and her work?

No. What was quoted from Laurel covers this. If you don't have written permission of the original author, you don't have permission to add to/tailor the work. It isn't the original author's responsibility to respond to you.

 

[KeithD]

Fair Use exists for scholarly use of the material or parody, not for writing of erotica.

 

[SimonDoom]

There is a simple solution to your problem. Instead of continuing this story, write a new story inspired by this one. Create your own characters and plot that can resemble the originals, while still having some differences. That way you have the freedom to "correct" whatever you thought wasn't perfect in the original story and you don't need permission from the original author, although it would be impolite (well more like a dick move) not to mention the original author as well as the fact that your story is inspired by the original one. It is a win-win, and you also get to continue the story any way you want.

Agree with this 100%.

There's nothing illegal or unethical about taking the broad ideas of a story and making your own story that expresses those ideas in a different way. If you read a "mom and son in the backseat of a car" story and like it, you're perfectly free to write your own story based on that concept. But do the right thing and change the characters, their names, the setting, and the specific plot details. You can get much the same creative satisfaction but without the ethical and legal problems.

 

[OverconfidentSarcasm]

I didn't know this existed. I have been wanting to write a second chapter to a story written in 2012, by an author who last published in 2013, but who has not responded to my request, Does this give me permission to complete the story, as long as I give credit to the original author, and her work?

Not on Literotica, no. Though, I'm pretty certain your story would get posted anyway, and then remain until the original author asks for it to be removed... which would be highly unlikely if your credit creates traffic for them. Just saying.

I'm not aware of any legal authority that would treat a continuation of a copyrighted story as a fair use. I think this is dead wrong as a matter of law. People justify this on the ground that fanfiction is a fair use, but that's not what the law says. Fanfiction is a strange phenomenon that probably is a form of copyright infringement but that for various practical reasons most famous authors choose not to pursue legally (but some do). The fact it's tolerated doesn't make it, legally, fair use. One should not extrapolate from the existence of fanfiction that continuing a Literotica author's story is a form of fair use, either. It's not.

I'm not aware of any legal authority that would have succeeded in shutting down a fan continuation. But I don't have to since I'm not a lawyer. So... I called one. And what I wrote in my original post was what she told me on the phone. Apparently, a fan fiction story on AO3 even won a Hugo Award (apparently it's a prestigious literature award) in the "Best Sci-Fi" category. Who knew?

 

[djrip]

If you use a pseudonym---you don't care.

I don't necessarily think this is true, but speaking of, how does copyright work with pen names? At some level there must be official record keeping of who the person really is and they hold the copyright? Has anyone ever had difficulty enforcing their copyright because of identity confusion?

 

[alohadave]

Has anyone ever had difficulty enforcing their copyright because of identity confusion?

You'd use your real name when registering the copyright. Copyright registration is a legal process and that requires a real name.

Stephen King was found to be Richard Bachman when the Bachman Book stories were accidentally registered in his name instead of his agent.

 

[SimonDoom]

Dybbuk said: When you share content on a free website, you do so with full awareness of copyright implications.

As a matter of law, there are no copyright implications. You retain your copyright just the same as if you posted on a paid site. The practical realities might differ, but the law, and the ethics, do not.

If you use a pseudonym---you don't care.

Speak for yourself. I care. All of us post under pseudonyms, and my guess is most of us care.

If you don't expressly state that you don't allow any use---you don't care.

If you don't provide an active contact email---you don't care.

Speak for yourself. I care. I assume that others respect copyright law and basic decency and will not copy my work unless I give express permission. This is the default position under our legal system.

If you're dead---you don't care.

Copyright protection extends 70 years past the life of the author. So, no, this isn't true either.

As long as you give credit and don't intend to monetize it, and everything stays here in this community, a tribute to a forgotten story and writer is the noblest act. Essentially, you breathe life into a story that might otherwise fade into obscurity.

If you actually believe this, you are fooling yourself. Again, if you feel this way about your work, fine. I personally think that doing this is wrong.

Those who truly believe their work holds significant commercial value will not offer it for free.

I've never claimed my Literotica stories have significant commercial value, but they have value to me personally, and that's enough for you, as a decent person, to respect my rights and not to infringe my work without my express permission.

You have, as far as I can tell, published no stories at Literotica, so it seems odd to me that you would purport to know what authors intend and mean by their actions here. Speaking for myself, everything you said is completely wrong.

 

[Omenainen]

When you share content on a free website, you do so with full awareness of copyright implications.

Copyright implications as per Literotica publishing guidelines:

Literotica authors own the copyright to their original works.

By publishing at Lit, you are simply granting us a non-exclusive right to publish your story on Literotica.com.

Notice how it does not say “you’ll give any asshat permission to shit all over your story if you ever publish it online”?

If you use a pseudonym---you don't care.

If you don't expressly state that you don't allow any use---you don't care.

If you don't provide an active contact email---you don't care.

If you're dead---you don't care.

You don’t have any means of knowing whether any of those claims are true. Also, caring does not contribute to who has rights to the story. If you didn’t write the thing, you don’t have a right to continue it, and it’s as simple as that. You can ask for permission, but any other response besides explicit permission still doesn’t give you rights for the story.

In my mind, “anything that’s not specifically forbidden is allowed” is juvenile thinking and adults — which as per site rules we all should be — should know better.

If the owners don't mind, neither should you.

As long as you give credit and don't intend to monetize it, and everything stays here in this community, a tribute to a forgotten story and writer is the noblest act. Essentially, you breathe life into a story that might otherwise fade into obscurity.

Why do you think that some rando who doesn’t have enough creativity to write their original stories would be doing “the noblest act” of “breathing life into a story”? I’d wager they’d do a poor job of butchering the original premise and characters and most likely they’d end up doing something other than the original author had in mind with them. It’s true that if the original author is dead they most likely won’t suffer from it, but they will not benefit from it either, and seeing that it’s their work they are the only ones who have the right to benefit from it.

Those who truly believe their work holds significant commercial value will not offer it for free.

Money is irrelevant. This is a moral issue.

 

[Devinter]

Those who truly believe their work holds significant commercial value will not offer it for free.

This simply isn't true. Offering a plethora of free stories - showing I am capable of handling both different narratives, different paces, different fetishes, and so on - is a large reason why I am able to get paid commission work. How else would anyone know what I'm capable of and seek out my services?

But either way, I don't think this question is truly about the commercial value (or lack there-of) of any work written here; It's about whether or not it's right or wrong to steal someone else's world/characters/storyline/whatever. In my opinion, it's not a compliment to the original author as much as it is an insult.

 

[Devinter]

guarding against imaginary zombies.

Someone didn't read the books.

 

[Omenainen]

What a waste, you guys should be in a courtroom, not on a porn site. Much like the AI threads, there's an abundance of holy zeal here too, devoid of any real context, making it difficult to perceive as anything but ridiculous.

Like the guardsmen in George Martin's Night's Watch, you're squandering your time on a block of ice, guarding against imaginary zombies.

And if you were a creator yourself, you might be able to come with an insult without using someone else’s copyrighted material.

 

[Devinter]

How exactly are you going to defend your copyrights in court?

It doesn't reach all the way to court. You send a cease-and-desist letter, the website honours it, and then the content is deleted. Literotica is not going to fight it. They can see the age of the stories and thus determine which one is the original.

In any case, I feel like you're missing something; A lot of authors would be happy to let someone else write a sequel, a prequel, an alternative version of one or several of their stories if they were asked. It becomes both rude and immoral when you do not ask for said permission, and that is also why Literotica's rules are written the way that they are. If you do reach out and ask, and you get no response, then I guess it's up to you as an individual to determine how to proceed - but personally, when I haven't been given consent, I don't tend to just go ahead anyways. I find it impolite and inappropriate.

 

[Bramblethorn]

When you share content on a free website, you do so with full awareness of copyright implications.

If you use a pseudonym---you don't care.

If you don't expressly state that you don't allow any use---you don't care.

If you don't provide an active contact email---you don't care.

Nobody can say you don't have a knack for fiction...

 

[Bazzle]

I did something very similar last year.

The original is 5k long and mind control -

https://www.literotica.com/s/miss-agatha-willoughbys-academy

I contacted the author, waited 6 months. I then changed quite a bit and it still got rejected, so I changed more. After quite of back and forth with Laurel I got it published.

I've had several comments that I've improved the original. I have also written two further extra parts.

Mines is 16k long and in fetish here https://literotica.com/s/miss-enid-kirkwood-s-academy

BUT in hindsight, after listening to @SimonDoom I shouldn't have even contemplated doing it. I should have gone back to first principles and come up with a similar but different story.

There was this burning desire to take the idea of the story and twist it.

So I have done the wrong thing, but enjoyed the process. I won't do it again !

B