I have found a gem story that was abandoned

[mitkopom]

I have found a rare gem. Abandoned in its peak, with 1,8 million views and over 1400 ratings.
I find it so good that I ask if anyone wants to continue it or use the amazing world-building for a fan-fic?

The Scourged Earth | Royal Road

Derrick is no ones hero. He is barely dealing with his mundane life when all of humanity is forced to confront the extraordinary. Overnight, all across the world, mysterious machines appear. They offer people the chance to purchase almost anything they can think of. Weapons, medicine and even...

www.royalroad.com

 

[Corty]

Anyone who wants to pick up and continue a dropped story MUST ask the original AUTHOR for a PERMISSION first. Period.

 

[Yairy]

Thank you @Corty <3

 

[LunaSoltaer]

For clarification, is this strength of assertion based in copyright law, a social consensus, personal morality, some combination of the three, something else entirely?

To be clear, I am NOT objecting. I seek to understand more thoroughly why this otherwise simple declaration is so stylistically impassioned. (I am also curious as to how one would reconcile this stance with the entire literal genre that is fanfiction, but that is a digression.)

 

[Corty]

@LunaSoltaer All of those. But if you want my personal thoughts, here we go:

I wrote that. I created that. I alone know what was my original vision for it.

And I come from the assumption, that most authors are the same. This is why before anything else, those who want to pick up a project, you go and ask for permission. And if given one, that is all good, you can go wild with it. This is how it ALWAYS should be.

This is something that I personally take especially seriously. I saw multiple threads like this, and I'll reiterate myself as many times as I need to.

As a writer there are things I have tunnel vision for. This is one of those.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

Anyone who wants to pick up and continue a dropped story MUST ask the original AUTHOR for a PERMISSION first. Period.

Bah. It's royal road. I mean, if you post on RR, you are basically saying, "I like being abused." So, that's permission in my book.

 

[SailusGebel]

 

[mitkopom]

Well from what I see the story is truly abandoned ( author is gone missing from his all accounts including red-edit) so contact is not possible unless you can talk to the spirit world. So why did I suggested that? It is because i truly admired what that author did but fate denied that beautiful story original ending. I agree with Corty and contact with author before working with their story is morally right if not legally obliged. What about the readers that 3 years after its abrupt end are still waiting for a closure of that story?
As far as I understand the copyrights law, that work is now a publik domain? or property of RR? not sure
and as the theme of law has been opened what do you think about partial licenses like

About CC Licenses - Creative Commons

Creative Commons licenses give everyone from individual creators to large institutions a standardized way to grant the public permission to use their creative work under copyright law. From the reuser’s perspective, the presence of a Creative Commons license on a copyrighted work answers the...

creativecommons.org

or full "all rights reserved" licenses..

 

[TotallyHuman]

Anyone who wants to pick up and continue a dropped story MUST ask the original AUTHOR for a PERMISSION first. Period.

I doubt that's feasible, considering pfp says the author was last active 4 years ago

 

[Corty]

@mitkopom Unless the author explicitly writes down he marks his story as free-to-use, it is not in the public domain. Not until 70 years pass by.

@TrashyHuman Yep. I still can't take something from a shop when they are closed. Though luck. Sadly.

I may come off as a jerk, but that is how it is. Many people do things without permission. You can go and continue the story easily. Nobody stops you from doing it. If someone does it, the following can come out of it:

• Somehow the author responds to the email. Says no or yes, whatever the outcome.
• Nothing happens. Someone picks it up anyway and continues. Everyone is happy.
• Someone picks it up. The fans won't like it as he/she is not the original author, and/or his/her writing style is different enough to be noticeable and ruin the experience.
• Gets flammed because of the above point, and to all hell, the whole story is now deemed by the readers: ruined
• Gets continued. Everything goes well. The author gets somehow notified of it, comes out from hiding in the Himalayans, and slaps it with a DMCA.
• The story gets nuked. Everyone loses.
• The author even takes down the original works because of spite.
• The one who picked it up gets slapped because the author is willing to go far. You never know. Some people are just ready to sue and get some money that way.

Things like this can happen. Would they? Dunno. Depends on many unknown factors. I just think none of it is worth the effort. Even if the original author doesn't care about it, more than not, readers will start criticizing everything the new author starts implementing into the story.

Edit: CC licenses are another thing. You have to apply for it or put your work under that license. By default, they are not in CC. (lawyers correct me on this please, I could be wrong here)

Quoted directly from the US government:

If you’re a writer, there are a few key things to know about copyright law and the protections available to you.

First, copyright protects original works of authorship, including literary works like books, essays, articles, blogs, and poetry. Generally, works that are considered “literary works” are intended to be read; they are not intended to be performed before an audience like plays, which are considered “works of the performing arts.” Copyright protection does not extend to names, titles, short phrases, ideas, methods, facts, or systems. It does, however, cover specific creative expression. For example, copyright does not protect the general idea of a group of friends who journey on a heroic quest to defeat evil. However, it will protect the creative expression of this idea, like the book A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. As a copyright owner, you have the right to make, sell, or otherwise distribute copies; adapt the work; and publicly recite or display your work.

Second, you should know that copyright protection exists from the moment an original work is “fixed” in a tangible medium. For writers, fixation occurs when your ideas are written down on paper or typed using a computer, for example. You don’t need to do anything else for your work to be protected by copyright. https://www.copyright.gov/engage/writers/

Tl;dr, the one who originally wrote, has the final say. Copyright happens the moment you write something. That is yours and protected by default.

The question is always: Can you prove it, or how far are you willing to go with it? For one, all of my works are also registered through a third party, so if anything happens, I can prove my ownership and show receipts.

 

[Yairy]

For clarification, is this strength of assertion based in copyright law, a social consensus, personal morality, some combination of the three, something else entirely?

To be clear, I am NOT objecting. I seek to understand more thoroughly why this otherwise simple declaration is so stylistically impassioned. (I am also curious as to how one would reconcile this stance with the entire literal genre that is fanfiction, but that is a digression.)

When I write a story, I put out a piece of myself as craft the tales into the product it becomes. That writer had to put hours and hours of dedication into crafting that amazing piece of work that you and others like to some degree. Reading the reveiws from it, that series sounds like it's beloved by its fans.

Taking their work and finishing it the way you or the readers believe it should be done robs the witer of their vision for the story. Unless the writer allows you or anyone else to take their vision and finish it, I'm against anyone taking away the hours, days, months and, years, that writer spent crafting the story others seem to love.

Who knows, maybe the writer doesn't care? But as a writer who also put in 100s of hours into my stories, I would be offended if someone took my story and finished it the way they believe it should be done.

Aside from that, I hope you or whoever gets a hold of the writer and do things properly. For all you know, they would love to finish their work but life got in the way.

 

[mitkopom]

For one, all of my works are also registered through a third party, so if anything happens, I can prove my ownership and show receipts.

Corty, are you willing to share more about this registration process

 

[Corty]

@mitkopom They are for you only if you want an extra safety net for yourself. None of these services are free. Everyone's story is protected by default and by basic rights. You just have to be able to prove you are the original author. That is the tricky part most of the time.

As an EU citizen, I had multiple options to go with. I did it mostly because I also put up my finished stories for sale on Amazon and Ko-Fi. (with a notice that anyone can read them freely here, it is just an extra option for those who are willing to support me in some way). And I wanted to make sure if something happens, I have a safety net below me.

One option was the official EU copyright site:

https://www.copyright.eu/?gclid=CjwKCAjwq-WgBhBMEiwAzKSH6OWq4pJ38MSLbP19GawHfHFRKbRQVigI0gqUYfL03YzSJD0v-JZUrxoCb5oQAvD_BwE

The second one was the US one:

U.S. Copyright Office | U.S. Copyright Office

Copyright Office Homepage

www.copyright.gov

But I went with a UK-based company simply because of the price (although I am still considering doing registration on the US site too somewhere along this year):

Copyright a Logo, Book or Song in 3 Minutes and 2 Easy Steps

How to copyright your work in under three minutes with Protect My Work. Instant copyright protection and deterrant against theft of your creative work.

www.protectmywork.com

Of course, this is nothing, and I don't know if it was even worth it at all. Probably not. But I did it anyway, as it was nagging my mind constantly.
But at least I have an official(looking) document that could prove that, yes, that work is my work.

And no. Nobody needs to do this. It is completely unnecessary.

I know for a fact that nobody is out there trying to steal my shitty little story. Nobody is plagiarizing that at all. I just, as I mentioned, take writing seriously, and my mind wouldn't let me off until I set myself up in a somewhat more official way.

 

[Paul_Tromba]

Sometimes people hit a burnout period. Maybe they'll come back, maybe they won't.

 

[mitkopom]

What about fan fiction? Does it requires author's consent?
PS: i just paid 65 USD for that US copyright office registration of corty link

 

[Corty]

@mitkopom fanfic is a grey area. It is usually fully glossed over and nobody cares. You are mostly good to go but if someone comes at your story with a complaint the sites you post on can decide it is easier to remove the fanfic alltogether than deal with the complaint.

but as soon as you start collecting money for it in any way shape or form you can be liable. There are US court cases for it.

10 Copyright Cases Every Fan Fiction Writer Should Know About | Trademark and Copyright Law

If you are a Star Trek fan, the name Axanar has almost certainly crossed your lips or your computer screen recently. Axanar is a film (well, at least a very good trailer aspiring to be a film) set in the Star Trek universe, which tells the back story of Garth of Izar, a character who

www.trademarkandcopyrightlawblog.com

 

[LunaSoltaer]

I recently came out of a long nap, and I have to say, these responses are impressively civil. I wanted to say I appreciate that rather a lot ^_^

 

[mitkopom]

Corty, that info about registration can be added in your tutorial?​

 

[Corty]

@mitkopom Sorry, but as it isn't part of SH, I won't add it. I can't really help you with that either, as it requires much personal information that, if made public, would equal a doxing. I'm not about to deal with that. Sorry.

 

[melchi]

Anyone who wants to pick up and continue a dropped story MUST ask the original AUTHOR for a PERMISSION first. Period.

+1 Corty