A Pilot Study of Fan Fiction Writer’s Legal Information Behavior

Abstract

Fan fiction, a genre using pre-existing and often copyrighted media as a springboard for new stories, raises several legal challenges. While fans may benefit from copyright limitations, their actual knowledge of and ability to exercise their legal rights is unclear, due to limited empirical work with fan writers on this subject. This is especially true of Canadian fans, who are underrepresented in the literature. This paper reports on a pilot study of Canadian and US fan writers’ legal knowledge, information behavior, and overall perceptions of law. It addresses background, methods, preliminary results, and future directions.