I have been writing fan fics for a good couple of years now, and i still struggle with writing the disclaimer. It's obviously a very important part fo the fic, and the fanfiction community. Does any one know where i can find a comprehensive one (that doesn't involve plagiarism of someone elses obviously!) or any advice on writing one that covers all bases?

Thanks

Azure x

On Fiction Alley all fics have a standart (sp?) disclaimer. I hope this helps.

I am not a legal adviser.

But to my knowledge nothing awful has ever happened to an HP fanfiction author simply for being an HP fanfiction author. There are a rare few authors that use their copyrights to prevent derivative works, but J.K. Rowling is most certainly not among them.

For me, a disclaimer within a story itself is just a way to show good faith. Use a disclaimer to respect the owner.

Still, Portkey itself uses this fine print:


See? Nothing terribly fancy, just a nod where a nod is due. I'm not suggesting you copy this whole thing, or this whole thing:



I'm not saying you need to be so pretentious either:

Am I the only one who thinks disclaimers are lame/pointless/ridiculous?

*fills out with crap so that some won't complain about "one-liners"* :refeck: (I wish that smilie was here...)

Well, you aren't the only one posting one-liners, anyway.

I didn't say disclaimers weren't lame and ridiculous, but they aren't pointless. Personally, I tend to take inspiration freely from whence it comes with little to absolutely no regard whatsoever to disclaiming it, but that's not such a good idea if someone from a news source ever came along and quoted you taking credit for someone else's work. Again, I'm not a legal adviser, but laws exist and the people with the guns think the laws are nice. So I see at least some point in writing a disclaimer someplace.

But like I said, the real reason why I like disclaimers is that it's a chance to respect someone else's good work.

EDIT: Somehow, "someone else's" became "someone's else." Interesting.

I've seen disclaimers as short as "Nope, not mine" and as elaborate as a little comedic mini-scene to set the stage for the story.

I just say "Standard disclaimers apply." I've been in this fanfic bit too long to make some kind of customized disclaimer.

Disclaimers have their legal importance. It's the only reason I still put one. I don't think JKR's lawyers would sue me, but I've had to deal with so much legal b*ll in my line of work that I do put things in writing most times. It's a habit.

Disclaimers are all good and swell, but you don't need to go overboard with them. Just as long as you are giving credit for where it is due that is fine.

I've never really bothered with anything fancy; just a simple disclaimer to make sure if anyone tries to sue me they can't

No, I think that they're crap too.

Legally, they do nothing extra to protect you, and most are far too comically written to offer legal protection anyway.

It doesn't matter what disclaimer you use, if they really WANT to sue you, they will for Trademark infringement, (using the name Harry Potter infringes a trademark), then they will lose because they failed to adequately defend the trademark to begin with.

There is no legal threat.