Pull-to-Publish is a trend these days. I have written a blog about this last April. Pull-to-Publish is simply publishing fanfiction as an original. The most famous example is E.L. James' Fifty Shades of Grey which started as a Twilight fanfiction. You can find other Pulled-to-Publish fanfiction books here. While some are okay with this trend, others see it as unethical - mainly because the characters are rightfully owned by another author. BUT there is an ethical way for fanfic writers to publish fanfiction. A fanfic writer was able to publish a novel that is only 1% similar to her Twilight fanfiction. Read more about her story and pull-to-publish :3

What about Pull-to-Publish Real Person Fiction? 

Let's take a look first at Real Person Fiction (RPF) and how it is viewed by the public by reading this article in Wikipedia. It also lists cases wherein fanfic authors who published their fanfics in the internet are sued.

1. "To date, unlike traditional fan fiction, only one cease and desist letter is known to have been issued against RPF: FanDomination.Net received this letter on March 17, 2003 from a representative of one of the members of the New York Yankees baseball team. The substance of the complaint against the site was related to a story entitled "If There's Gray Hair On The Field, Play With Balls." The complaint alleged that the story's depiction of a present-day homoual encounter between former Yankees players Virgil Trucks, Rugger Ardizoia, and Eddie Bockman, all of whom are currently in their nineties, was harmful to the Yankees brand and to the reputations of the players depicted."

2. "In 2008, a man was arrested in the UK for writing and publishing on the internet a story featuring various members of the band Girls Aloud under the Obscene Publications Act. The story described the kidnap, and murder of the girls. He was subsequently tried (the R v Walker trial) and found not guilty, and claimed that he had never intended to frighten or intimidate the band members."

You can read more about this case here. 

"A crucial aspect of the reasoning that led to the instigation of these proceedings was that the article in question, which was posted on the internet, was accessible to people who were particularly vulnerable - young people who were interested in a particular pop music group. It was this that distinguished this case from other material available on the internet. The CPS concluded, with the benefit of counsel's advice, there was a realistic prospect of conviction."

"His defence argued that the piece was not easily accessible and could only be found in a specific internet search." (Comment: Whew. Let us thank Boss Nichi for hiding "inappropriate" content and for providing us with privacy options.)

This is not meant to scare anyone who is writing celebrity fanfiction. Let's just be aware that there are some celebrities who do not want us to write fanfics about them. Remember that celebrities have a right to publicity. And that there are topics we should think not only twice, but a hundred times, before posting. Ask yourself the purpose of writing such story. Please read the updated version of AFFHelper's post on AFF's Community Guidelines (Rated M and Trigger Warning). They put up a criteria and if the answer is "yes" in all three, then don't post the story here. It is written there at the bottom, in a teeny tiny font, that some themes are not allowed in the site. 

Celebrities are aware of RPF - some kpop artists even read them. It's being tolerated at the moment and we're safe. HAHA! I only know of U-Kiss former leader, Alexander, who expressed his opinion about fanfiction. I can't find the actual article or interview but I remember it was linked in one of the blogs here. He said something along the lines of "why is it necessary to write stories about us when we are already living it." 

So if RPF is frowned upon already, what if we made money from it? What if we Pull-to-Publish RPF? 

RPF writers can always put a disclaimer. "The often included disclaimer in story headers, stating that the work is pure fiction, protects Real Person Fiction from slander and libel." (from Wikipedia)

Even with a disclaimer, Scarlett Johansson sued Grégoire Delacourt for using her image in his novel. But author claims that the work is not about her but of her double or a woman who looks like her. Read here. 

Then there's a Wattpad author who received six figures from Simon & Schuster for her One-Direction fanfiction. Read here.

True Beauty is another example of a Pulled-to-Publish RPF book here in AFF. The author claimed to have changed the names of the characters and she also provides the Sehun version which has Sehun's name on it for the fans. Huntress also self-published Mobster for Rent and Knot this Guy. 

Remember this? Or this? I really worried about the legality of publishing fanfiction back then because of the repurcussions it might have on the site. But as some of you have pointed out, it's alright as long as the stories do not "harm" the brand (artists) or the company's profits. 

Pull-to-Publish RPF is not really illegal. It's a question of whether it is ethical to do this or not. I know of published authors who based the physical appearances of their characters on real persons - especially models. Could we also argue that it's just a face claim? Like we used their physical appearances to create our characters? Before you go down this route, I suggest you read on how to do this properly to avoid... issues. 

To delete or not to delete. E.L. James deleted her Twilight fanfiction and so have others, even chapters of original Wattpad stories published by PSICOM were taken down, because really, what's the point of selling a book when an online version is available for free?

But fandoms have retaliated - especially those who have invested their time on the work, providing free reviews/feedback. If not for them, the fanfic wouldn't have reached such popularity and by taking down the fanfics, it's like a slap to their faces, they argued.

Still, if the fanfic is publicly available and the published version is very similar to that of the fanfic, wouldn't it be considered as self-plagiarism? Self-plagiarism is simply re-using of one's work and presenting it as something new. Uh-oh. What to do, then?

This is merely Keeper's suggestion for I don't really know how this could be resolved. Perhaps the author and the readers could reach a compromise. How about the author telling her readers that she plans of turning the fanfic into an original and selling it? Of course, authors can do whatever they want. But if they want a healthy relationship with their readers they have to be transparent so that the readers wouldn't feel they were being cheated upon. Respect begets respect. And if the time comes that the author would have to take down the fanfic, there would be no hurt feelings. 

I hope this explains to the readers why something that started as free has to be deleted. Don't hate. 

It's not just the content. Make sure you have license to use the images and fonts in your book cover. You are not allowed to paste lyrics without getting permission to do so. You have to pay the composer or artist or even the company who owns the rights to the song. You can mention song titles, though. There are lots to consider when taking content written by other people even if it's available in the internet. You can read my post about the use of content. 

Whew. This is a lot to take in. But it's better if we know a bit to avoid getting sued ^^"