No Bull

No Bull was a gen Starsky & Hutch story by Sarah that was partially posted in four parts at The Pits, a mailing list. 
It was a unauthorized sequel to Suzan Lovett's The Thousandth Man.
Part way through its posting, a fan contacted Sarah and told her her story violated the fannish custom of asking the original author for prior permission. The author of "No Bull" wrote a heartfelt apology to the mailing list, saying she was a new fan and had no idea that what she did was wrong. Many fans weighed in on the discussion, most saying that yes, permission was required, and offered up their own experiences.
One fan, Flamingo, responded with some very gracious and kind messages, assuring Sarah that her misstep was understandable, and offered to contact Suzan Lovett about the issue. Lovett also responded in a gracious and kind fashion.
The story was posted in four parts; three before the discussion and permission, the fourth after permission was given. In the end, however, the story was abandoned before being finished.
==The Author's Introduction==
==Some More Context==
Historically, the fan community has had a shaky understanding of fair use principles. See additional context at unauthorized sequels.
In 1999, the concept of remix culture and shared universes was still a decade away. As one fan remembers: "In 1999, a fan attempted to to write a story as part of the Thousandth Man same universe called "No Bull". She was roundly rebuked by the fan community for committing "copyright infringement" and violating the "author's privilege." When word of this story reached Suzan, she explained that while print etiquette traditionally required getting permission before writing in some else's universe, those rules seemed to be growing more relaxed in the Internet era. However, in the past she had had problems when she allowed others to write in her universes because the other writers' changes were simply not compatible with hers, so she eventually abandoned those universes. At time I found the situation ironic because since Suzan had left the fandom with no plans to revisit her stories, any changes others might make to her universe couldn't possibly affect her writing plans. Still, the initial negative reaction is the one that prevailed and no further sequels or shared universe stories were attempted. The author of "No Bull" never finished the story."Morgan Dawn's personal recollections, accessed May 27, 2015.
Another fan remembers the author of "No Bull," [Sarah], stopped posting the story parts after another fan contacted her to tell her she'd violated fannish customs by not asking Suzan first. [Sarah] profusely apologized, saying she had no idea that this rule existed and that she was mortified to have violated it. Another fan, Flamingo, responded to her:
Another post from Flamingo on the same day:
Lovett replied to [Sarah] via Flamingo and very graciously reassured [Sarah] that no harm was done, that she herself had "borrowed" from the original show: "Safe to say if there's a sin here, mine far outnumbers yours. It's fan fiction. We're all using borrowed characters, situations, etc., and I see nothing that should make mine holier than, say, the first writer who went: two street cops, this Nordic type and his more ethnic partner.... I have never, not once, not *ever* refused anybody *any* creative follow-up on anything that was done by me. I also have to ask other writers permission to write sequels to their stories and I *know* how it feels to have these ideas that are churning but have to wait to be given outlet. 'Do unto others' is *still* a good operating procedure, far's I'm concerned." "Suzan's comments", a post on The Pits, used on Fanlore with Flamingo's permission (December 25, 1999) 
==References==
Category:Starsky & Hutch FanfictionCategory:Gen Fanfiction
Category:1999 Fanfiction‎