I come bearing another interesting link which was written by Sherwood Smith at Book View Café, bearing on what happens to an author’s creativity once it is out there, and where fanficton comes into that.

The pros and cons of fanfiction from authors’ perspectives is a complicated subject, but for now I don’t want to go there, I want to stick to readers and ways they participate in what they read or watch.

Fanfiction writers write for love of the canon, and for love of the participatory experience of the fanfiction world. Nearly all the writers post good faith statements at the top of their fiction, stating that the the world and characters belong to the author. They do not attempt to charge money for their work.

more here:Bad readers, good readers, and fanfiction