Copyright Question

[coreyc]

Good day,
I have a short question, that could have a long answer about copyrights.

I want to write a story in the Harry Potter world but doesn't have anything to do with the main characters, just events that happened before, durning and after the books.

-Can I use the name Hogwart?
-I want my MC to csst spells from the world.. ie accio.
-Reference events that happen in the world, Voldemort gather forces.

Thoughts?

 

[MrPixel]

Short answer? No. The Harry Potter series is an aggressively protected intellectual property. It's been a while since I've read the Literotica publishing guidelines and FAQs, but I think that HP as well as Disney properties are specifically mentioned as "don't go there."

I could stand to be corrected on this.

 

[onehitwanda]

From the Content Guidelines:

Copyrighted material for which the submitter is not the owner of the copyright, or for which the submitter does not have an explicit license from the copyright owner to publish the work at Literotica.

You might have some exemptions under fair use, but as @MrPixel says it's aggressively defended, so I'd imagine your story would be sent back for infringement.

 

[ronde]

Short answer? No. The Harry Potter series is an aggressively protected intellectual property. It's been a while since I've read the Literotica publishing guidelines and FAQs, but I think that HP as well as Disney properties are specifically mentioned as "don't go there."

I could stand to be corrected on this.

You are exactly correct. Until the expiration date for a copyright, no person or entity other than the owner of the copyright may copy or otherwise make use of the copyrighted material without the express permission of the owner. Once the copyright expires, the work moves into the public domain and can be copied or used by anybody. There is one exception to the "public domain" rule though. If there is a contract stating that royalties be paid to the copyright owner or his/her estate, the work does not enter into the public domain until the dissolution of said contract.

 

[IWroteThis]

Short answer? No. The Harry Potter series is an aggressively protected intellectual property. It's been a while since I've read the Literotica publishing guidelines and FAQs, but I think that HP as well as Disney properties are specifically mentioned as "don't go there."

I could stand to be corrected on this.

There is a ton of Harry Potter fanfiction out there on sites like RoyalRoad and ScribbleHub, not to mention Amazon. Maybe some has been taken down for legal reasons, but none that I'm aware of.

I'm not saying it's not on the Literotica no-no list, but it doesn't seem to involve much personal risk to write it.

 

[MrPixel]

There is a ton of Harry Potter fanfiction out there on sites like RoyalRoad and ScribbleHub, not to mention Amazon. Maybe some has been taken down for legal reasons, but none that I'm aware of.

I'm not saying it's not on the Literotica no-no list, but it doesn't seem to involve much personal risk to write it.

Good point, but it might just be a matter of visibility, and just how much of Rowling's product comes through in the fanfic.

My sister is an intellectual properties litigator - a lawyer who argues this stuff in court - and she bemoans how much stuff is locked-down these days. I kid her about the old joke of Microsoft patenting 1s and 0s, and her retort is that it's not that far off any more, "I can't believe the PTO issued on that piece of crap!" over something recent out of Silicon Valley.

 

[redgarters]

There is a ton of Harry Potter fanfiction out there on sites like RoyalRoad and ScribbleHub, not to mention Amazon. Maybe some has been taken down for legal reasons, but none that I'm aware of.

I'm not saying it's not on the Literotica no-no list, but it doesn't seem to involve much personal risk to write it.

Second that. There's a huge amount of Harry Potter fanfic out there. A 'Harry Potter' search on AO3 alone yields nearly 700.000 works of fiction (and there are no rules prohibiting content).
Literotica rules are more tight though.

 

[CalBishForNow]

There is a fan fiction section here, and there are very few stories in it about the Harry Potter characters or world. (A search for "harry potter" turns up over a thousand stories, but as far as I can tell they're all about the actors, events at the theme park, or in-universe references to the fictional characters.) But not zero. And then there's this series. There are also tons of stories about Disney characters.

Potterverse stories seem more common outside the Fan Fiction section than inside, and seem to use the main characters of the series less than side characters or original characters in that universe. It makes me think that there's a rule against it that's poorly enforced. So... OP, give it a try and see what happens, I don't think you'll get in trouble, but I think the odds are against it getting published.

 

[redgarters]

The main characters in HP will also fall under the 'no aging up' rule here. This has been discussed in other threads.

 

[coreyc]

Ok, thanks everyone..
Looks like it falls under "not worth going there"..
Well I will work on the outline and file it for another day.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Short answer? No. The Harry Potter series is an aggressively protected intellectual property. It's been a while since I've read the Literotica publishing guidelines and FAQs, but I think that HP as well as Disney properties are specifically mentioned as "don't go there."

I could stand to be corrected on this.

I believe you are correct. Lit has stated in several places, including the FAQs
and historical posts here in the AH, that it will not allow HP fan fiction, full stop, nor anything based on existing Disney characters. Content based on older fairytales which might have been Disneyfied over the last century are okay, provided you don't invoke the Disney portrayals.