(03-23-2019, 11:57 AM)Bob Schroeck Wrote: Copyright's not the issue, unless they were plagiarizing the text to begin with, in which case paying for it is the least of the problems.
Trademarks are the issue. Giving the appearance of writing original material with trademarked properties for money kicks his fanfiction completely out of the legal grey area that fanfic resides in. It becomes using someone else's intellectual property for profit.
Sorry Bob, but Copyright is still very much at issue. Don't forget that copyright also includes the right to exploit derivative works; which fanfiction is. The only real grey area for that is the non-commercial nature of most fanfiction.
'Thou yes trademark is also an issue and probably the bigger one since it has both higher penalties and is easier to go after internationally.