Merry Day, Gentlefolk. Today we're going to discuss something that's near and dear to my heart, but nearer and dearer to ^ArtisticAunJuli: Fan Fiction.

On dA, Fan Fiction has its own special gallery under the umbrella of Fan Art. It is not included in the Literature Galleries and the Lit GDs have no power over the category. Inexplicably, this makes some people rather angry. "My work is not merely fan art!" they cry in webspeak tones. "I am original, too!"

Well, I am here to state something for the sake of our collective sanity: Fan Fiction is not a dirty term. We don't run around the galleries gleefully moving your deviations to Fan Fiction because we think you suck. It's not some 'club' that you're not in or a personal statement on your artistic prowess. We're not accusing you of copying or being lazy or any other value judgment people try to associate with Fan Art and Fan Fiction. Instead, we're trying to make you understand something: you are being inspired by a copyrighted work of art/literature of which you are, presumably, a fan (or at least fan enough to be inspired by it).

I'm no policy guy, and I'm not here to discuss policy with you, but copyright is Serious Business. No matter how harmless you think your 'inspired by' stories are, if they deal with a copyrighted character, world, anime, manga, movie, cartoon, video game, etc. etc. etc. then you are going to have to suck it up and realize the fact that it is fan fiction--not because we hate you, but because it's the gosh darn truth.

In order for your 'inspired by' fiction (and poetry) to remain in the Literature Galleries exclusively, the work you are using for inspiration must be in the Public Domain. Not sure what that is? Well, check this link for reference. Basically, any work written/published in the U.S.A. (or otherwise) pre-1923 is in the public domain. It is no longer protected under copyright laws. (Post-1923 gets slightly more complicated.) One such example? Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Yes, that's right: the original 'Alice in Wonderland' was published in 1865. It is in the public domain. However, the Disney version, entitled Alice in Wonderland, and the images and actions of the characters in that movie and subsequent books, are still protected under copyright. Inspired by the original text? Lit Gallery. Inspired by the movie? Fan Fiction. It's that simple (and, equally, that complicated).

So why am I discussing this today? Well, it's time to make a concerted effort to remove Fan Fiction from the Lit Galleries. Coming off of Spring Cleaning and having a brand new way of reporting deviations, it seems like the perfect opportunity to remind all of you that Fan Fiction does not belong in the Literature Galleries (due to copyright laws, not skill level). If you see it, REPORT IT as a Miss-Cat. We'll take care of it from there.

Thank you kindly, folks. Enjoy your week.