First off let me say I hold fan fiction of any sort, including officially sanctioned works, among the least creative works in existence. What the authors are essentially doing is letting someone else, often an underpaid lackey for Big Media, do the hard work of creating interesting characters, settings and often technology, whether it be science fiction hardware or magical gadgets. It’s lazy and too often in the case of Internet based fan fiction incompetently done.
That said, I admire many of the more talented authors who have derived their work so totally that few if any of the original intellectual properties exists. Notably, I had verbalized the desire to see a work like the Excalibur novel series from Star Trek to exist years before it did. But that is the very rare exception.
Besides the obvious legal issues of using someone else’s right to derivative work, that being main legal problem with fan fiction, I see it from the reverse perspective as well. Some published authors of famous settings have been sued, and lost, by authors of fan fiction that they had allowed, for stealing their story.
So this leaves an author in an unusual position, do you allow fan fiction and the increased fan base, press in any form and, quite frankly, flattery, or do you disallow it to protect your own hide?
My response is unusual in that I enjoy the flattery, so I’ll allow it, but with a catch, any fan fiction based on my Terrae setting must acknowledge myself as the creator of the setting in a copyright notice, and the author must allow myself rights to use their characters, situations, setting details, and other creative works, free of restriction, in my own stories should I see fit. Likewise, none of my main characters may be used, in name or allusion, without explicit permission from myself, these characters being Brian Michael Unis, Susanne Luka Froom, Joan Romanova or Bruse (no surname). This list may and likely will change at my total discretion and will be retroactively binding, with exception being allowed and “grandfathered in” on appeal.
That said, I won’t use another author’s creation without acknowledgment or notification, nor would I prevent them from using their own work for their own uses, but in writing something in this setting you are allowing myself to use your work, much as I am allowing you to use my own work. If enough of another author’s work is taken, I will acknowledge in the form of either adding an author or creator’s credit, or fully and actively collaborating with them.
In effect this is a quid pro quo relationship. If you use my work, then I may use your work to the same degree.
Also, while this setting is admittedly highly and unabashedly highly sexualized, and in a “genre” so to speak that itself is highly sexualized, no outright pornography is allowed. That is not saying a well justified sex scene(s) are allowed, even if the entire intend if the story is to present the sex scene. Thus, if the sex scene is the logical conclusion of the story it is allowable, but if it is the story it is not. More or less I want a defined plot structure, including an exposition, rising action, climax and resolution that goes beyond the sex scene itself.
The form of the work may be textual, as long as it is well presented, including basic grammar and spell check, or graphical in any form. In the case of graphical works, presenting that aforementioned main characters may be allowed, if and only if the work is not outright pornographic, Playboy or World War II nose-art style pin ups are fine, and a copy, digital or physical or both is made available to myself for the purpose of physically presenting the character online. Plus, honestly, I enjoy seeing how other people see my characters.
To the end of allowing fan fiction I will make available notes on the setting. They may not be pretty notes, and are very possibly rambling and incoherent, but such is the nature of notes involving a creative work. I will include at the very least a geography, political situations and a brief history, physiology of the races, description of their religion, social mores, description of their literature, music, customs and sports. Even for this information I would gladly welcome collaboration as much of this is beyond my ability to create in my copious spare time.