Unauthorized Sequel

An unauthorized sequel is a work created with the unauthorized use of another fan's story/universe/character. They are sometimes the subject of controversy and discussion in fandom.
Some fans feel that any fan story is fair game to be used; others feel it should require specific permission until a shared universe is a certain (indeterminate) size, or has been declared open by the original author. 
In 2017, Ruth Berman commented on writing sequels to other fan stories: "I suspect that the habit of thinking about someone else’s story and finding that the thoughts are turning into scenes & dialogue demanding to be written as a separate story is related to the impulse to write stories in other people’s universes in the first place. It’s a sort of hybrid between fiction and criticism."See more of Ruth Berman's comments at Media Fandom Oral History Project Interview. 
Unauthorized sequels may be considered recursive, but many recursive fanfiction authors only proceed with permission.
==A Double Standard?==
Some fans object to permission being required to use other fans' ideas when those same fans did not ask the original creators of the canon for permission to create their fanworks. However, others have argued that the dynamic is different between fan writers:
Another discussion on this subject was sparked off by a 2022 Reddit thread about an unauthorised sequel:
pikablob the creator of the thread edited their original post to address these points:
This prompted comments both in disagreement and in support. 
==Some Examples of Fan Authors' Bans==
Not all fanfic writers are willing to share, even going so far as to threaten other fans with "copyright infringement." In 1978, here was a personal statement from Fern Marder and Carol Walske complaining about copyright infringement on the characters/universe they have created: 
In 1976, a group of writers warned others: 
Devra Langsam comments on the Nu Ormenel restrictions:
In 1978, Devra Langsam also warned other writers about "her" Klingons: 
In 1989, Jean Lorrah explained why she didn't want other fans to write in the Epilogue universe: 
From a post on one list by a fanwriter who wrote in several fandoms (Professionals, Star Trek: TOS, Star Trek: TNG, and Man from UNCLE) under three different pseuds:
==Differing Viewpoints: 1970s==
===General Comments===
A fan, Catalenamara wrote: 
=== Example: "Variations on a Theme"===
From A 2007 Interview with Valerie Piacentini: 
===Example: "A la récherche de l'avenir" and "The Rack"===
A la récherche de l'avenir was a 1978 responsefic/remix of the Star Trek: TOS story The Rack. It that caused a lot of discussion about plagiarism, permissions, and shared universes. 
A personal statement was printed in Scuttlebutt #16 in 1979 by Bev Volker, April Valentine, Nancy Kippax regarding to an "unauthorized sequel" to their story The Rack:
In 1980, a fan named Mary Lou D commented on "The Rack's" authors' complaints: 
In 1980, Leslie Fish had this to say about "The Rack's" various sequels, authorized and not: 
In 2006, Catalenamara wrote:
===Example: Valjn'd'jt to Val'jn'jt===
An example of the use and appropriation of a fanon term, and its murky provenance is Valjn'd'jt to Val'jn'jt, a fannish discussion that began in the late 1970s.
===Example: "Confrontation" and "Spock Enslaved!"===
In 1976, Connie Faddis wanted to see more of the Spock-McCoy relationship as presented in Spock Enslaved! and wrote a story called Confrontation which she felt was more satisfying. 
In her author's notes in IDIC #3, she wrote: 
==Differing Viewpoints: 1980s==
===General Comments===
From a Star Wars letterzine in 1984: 
From the author of a Star Trek: TOS zine: 
While this fan's comments were posted in 2000, she is mainly talking about Star Trek: TOS fiction in the 1980s: 
=== Example: "Looking Glass Universe"===
And Memories Die (1989-90) by Ellis Ward is an unauthorized sequel to Looking Glass World (1985 or before) by Felicity M. Parkinson. They are both Professionals stories.
At the time the stories were written, many of the paper circuit stories contained no author name, so when Ellis Ward wrote her 'sequel' to Felicity M Parkinson's Looking Glass World, she had no idea who to contact to obtain permission. In the 1990s Ellis Ward explained that her two stories were not sequels per se, but more "inspired by" Looking Glass World. The original story by Felicity M Parkinson was a take on the Star Trek Mirror universe where the characters are unpleasant (as in the Star Trek Mirror 'verse) and gay (not in the original Star Trek Mirror 'verse.) In "And Memories Die I" Ellis wanted to explore what Doyle might experience when he finally remembered what he had done (and what had been done to him) in the mirror universe. In "And Memories Die II" she wondered might happen if the Mirror characters were to once again come into contact with 'our' Bodie and Doyle. Ellis later explained in a letterzine that Felicity M Parkinson was not pleased with the sequels as she (a) had not given permission and (b) would not have taken them in the direction that Ellis had chosen. In her letter, Ellis explained that as far as she was concerned Felicity M Parkinson's "is the only "authorized" version and should Parkinson ever write a sequel, it will be the "official" sequel. Ellis also apologized for failing to obtain permission.Source: Morgan Dawn's personal notes, accessed June 6, 2013.
==Differing Viewpoints: 1990s==
===General Comments===
From an X-Files fan:
From a Pros fan in 1991:
From a Pros fan in 1991:
From a Pros fan in 1991:
From a Pros fan, [H G], in 1991: 
From a Pros fan in 1991, this one tying legitimacy to origin:
A discussion among X-Files fans in 1994:
From a Pros fan, [MS], in 1996: 
From a fan, Shoshanna, in 1996: 
From a Pros fan, [MS], in 1998:
From a Star Trek fan in 1999, answering another fan's question: "When is using something from another person's story taking advantage of 'fanon' and when is it plagiarism": 
===Example: "Catharsis" and "Alternate Ending to Catharsis"===
Catharsis is a Professionals story by Sebastian. In 1996, another fan, Anne Higgins, wrote an unauthorized, controversial sequel to it. See Alternate Ending to Catharsis.
===Example: "The Thousandth Man" and "No Bull"===
In December 1999, a fan wrote an unauthorized sequel to The Thousandth Man. For more information of his fic was called No Bull, see that page.
==Differing Viewpoints: 2000s==
From a fan in 2008: 
=== Example: "Take Clothes Off As Directed"===
"Take Clothes Off As Directed" is a John Sheppard/Rodney McKay slash AU by Helen posted in 2006. Identified by the author as "an unauthorized homage," or without input or permission from the original author, "Take Clothes Off As Directed" was based on another AU story by Xanthe (Coming Home, a prequel to General & Dr Sheppard) that postulated an alternate universe in which sexuality was classified according to BDSM power dynamics, rather than gender. In Xanthe's stories, her alternate universe was a society where couples could achieve mystical soulbonds in their relationships. In contrast, Helen used the top/sub power dynamic as the basis for an allegory on gender roles and sexism in modern society. 
Xanthe' reaction:
While Xanthe herself has never mentioned Helen's story publicly, she has referred to Coming Home as "the story the SGA Big Name Fans all got their knickers in a twist about" and stated that events surrounding it resulted in "a kind of bonkers and yet deeply nasty hysteria that made me reassess my involvement in fandom". Xanthe, Site Updates, February 9th, 2008, (Accessed 12 October, 2008)
See Take Clothes Off As Directed for more.
=== Example: "Phantom Pain"===
From a fan in 2007, an outraged comment which generated forty-three responses about a fan's remix of the Sentinel story Phantom Pain: 
A response to the above post: 
Another comment: 
Another comment: 
Another comment: 
 
This comment is from the fan who wrote the offending story: 
This comment is from the author of the original story, April Valentine: 
==Differing Viewpoints: 2010s==
From a A 2010 Interview with Brenda Antrim: 
From A 2010 Interview with Angelfish: 
From A 2010 Interview with Helen Raven: 
From A 2010 Interview with Tarot: 
From A 2010 Interview with The Hag: 
From A 2011 Interview with Meg Lewtan: 
From a Professionals fan, Sebastian, in 2014: 
From 2015 comments by copperbadge: 
From mikes-grrl in 2015: {{Quotation|A recent kerfluffle in a couple of RP sites made me realize that one very important aspect missing from a lot of fandom participation is that the rules of “transformative fiction” apply universally.
That is, if you riff on a show or movie by creating fanfic or fanart or RP blogs without permission (which, uh, is exactly what we all do), then you’re not exactly in a position to bitch when someone does the same to YOUR work.
But hypocrisy tends to run rampant. BNFs ax requests by their fans to be able to riff on their own fanfiction – “It’s mine and that makes me uncomfortable.” RP blog admins get in cat fights over ideas being “stolen” from each other. Community founders freak the fuck out when someone takes a character in a direction “not sanctioned” by them (~moment of silence for the Great Clan Mitchell Fiasco~).
The common defense here is that fandom is some kind of “community” with shared values. That a cohesive community with shared values exists perhaps could be said of some small fandoms (when I was in Life on Mars-UK on livejournal, that was certainly the case) but in larger fandoms that’s just ridiculous. The numbers are against you: there will the factions, and wank, and a lot of disagreement about everything. 
There is only one universal, shared feature to our so-called fanfic/fanart community: that every single thing we create – art, stories, blogs, costumes, jewelry – is a transformation of copyrighted material owned by someone else. If that idea bothers you on a personal level, then maybe you need to think carefully about what exactly you think you are doing here in the first place. 
My point is that we can’t expect people to respect rules of ownership in a “community” (fanfiction/fanart) based on breaking those very rules. Screaming out “they stole my idea!” in THIS space is not just hypocrisy, and it’s not just kind of silly, but it’s actually a complete refutation of the whole reason we’re doing what we do in the first place. untitled Tumblr post 
==Differing Viewpoints: 2020s==
2022:
==Different Attitudes in Different Fandoms/Different Times: A 2006 Discussion Among Pros Fans==
In 2006, there was some discussion among Professionals fans about different fandoms and expectations regarding unauthorized sequels: 
==Different Attitudes in Different Mediums==
In 2006, a fan, Catalenamara described some fan discussion she had been a part of a the most recent Escapade: 
==Some Examples of Unauthorized Fanworks==
* Eridani Triad #1 (1970) contains a trilogy of plays by Doris Beetem set in Ancient Vulcan in the time of Surak. The introduction to this trio: "The following story is an unauthorized sequel to Jean Lorrah's "Parted From Me," which appeared in Triskelion No. 3." 
* A la récherche de l'avenir (1978) was a responsefic to The Rack, and was a story that caused great controversy.
* Bokor Holiday (1994), an early X-Files fic, was inspired by M.I.B., one of the very first X-files fics published online (and posted a month before Bokor Holiday). M.I.B.'s author took issue with Bokor Holiday's author failing to ask permission, which was caused/exacerbated by some breakdowns in communication.
* Alternate Ending to Catharsis (1996), a controversial unauthorised sequel that itself spawned debate about the etiquette surrounding unauthorised responsefic.
* Take Clothes Off As Directed (2006), a SGA example
* Letting Go Is The Hardest Part (2011-2014) and Lovers In A Dangerous Time are sequels to Devil Angel, a Hanson and The Moffatts fic. Fans were encouraged by the author to write their own "lost chapters" and many fans wrote sequels when the original story was abandoned.
* The Silent One (2012), an unauthorized sequel to Hanson fic The Quiet One.
* It’s a Clear Reception, It’s a Long Connection by DesireeArmfeldt (2012), unauthorized sequel to a due South story by spuffyduds
* Crimson Vintage and Shadows of Desire by Fridayplease (2023), unauthorized sequels to Perceived Impressions by Acinonyx1. Crimson Vintage used the first 3 chapters of Perceived Impressions and then continued the story. After it was deleted, the author published Shadows of Desire, which rewrote a new plot for those 3 chapters, but included many of the same story beats.
==Meta/Further Reading==
* The Art of the Plagiarist by [J C] (1997)
* When is a lift not a lift? by Hestia (fan) (1997)
* My take on the "Pro Authors Who Don't Like Fanfic" rants... (2010)
* by Kristina Busse and Shannon Farley, M/C Journal (2013)
==Notes & References==
===Notes===
===References===
Category:Copyright Glossary
Category:Fiction Writing
Category:Fandom Wars
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