Question about the new read-the-book rule

[SladinForever]

I am slightly confused on this new "read the book" rule. Do episode rewrites of a show/anime series fall under this? I've written a few fics where I added my own spin to an episode (I added ideas that I thought COULD happen in said episode) and where I HAD to use scenes from the episode in question to tell the story, including specific dialogue. I changed things up a bit of course, sometimes adding things, but some dialogue had to stay the same, as well as fight/battle scenes that I reworded so I wasn't plagiarising. I understand not writing word-for-word from, say, the Harry Potter books into a fic, but what about certain key points from an episode/scene? I want to know if this story I wrote a few years ago (and that I'm rewriting due to storytelling errors) is allowed or not, before I think of posting it, just for it to be deleted soon after

[pittwitch]

First, as always, when an author uses straight quotes from an episode or book, the material must be given proper citations, i.e.: Harry Potter, Goblet of Fire, p. 56., Star Trek: The Next Generation, Episode 11, etc.

That being said, there is a distinct difference between quoting material and these ReadTheBook or FanMake type stories.

To escape the label of ReadTheBook or FanMake, a story must contain substantially more original written material from the fanfiction auihor than straight copying of the rightful owners' scripts or stories. Simply adding author's asides will not suffice. Simply changing the characters names will not suffice. Simply adding a new character to speak in a narrator's voice, etc., will not suffice. Finally, the one that completely baffles me: simply changing the universe, say turning Lilo and Stitch into Rizzolli and Isles, will not suffice. The key word is substantial.

What is concerning is your statement, "I changed things up a bit of course, sometimes adding things ..."

I am not certain that simply changing things up "a bit" will meet the criteria for substantial. Without seeing/knowing the episode/script and your version, I cannot say with any confidence whether or not the story qualifies as a FanMake or ReadTheBook entry.

[DemonGoddess]

As long as you cite the dialogue, and it's an actual rewrite, that's allowable. There is plenty of that throughout the archive. What we're talking about is where someone takes a script and uses it verbatim, maybe changes the character names. No retelling of the episode from a different perspective, but just posting up the episode as their own work.

The same applies to an actual "read-the-book". Those are stories where an author usually puts a sentence or two of a character saying something or another, and then copies the actual book content verbatim, as the character reading the book to someone in their story. That's obviously NOT acceptable, nor is it a new spin on the book.

When I, or any other staff member, as an example; searches the text of such a story, and it comes up with 0% original content for the bulk, and links to a copy of the script in question, there is an obvious problem.

We're all certainly aware that some archives actually allow this, but many more of them do not, as it is still plagiarism. Taking a story and making the majority of it a copy/paste of a script/screenplay/book, is just what it sounds like, copypasta plagiarism.

[SladinForever]

Okay, this makes a bit more sense to me then. So just to be clear, if I quote a character saying their line from an episode in the story, I should cite them at the bottom of every chapter? And if I write a fight sequence with significant changes (attacks are mostly/completely different) then that's alright too?

[DemonGoddess]

Yep, that's exactly it.

You can look through many, many buffy 'verse stories and find examples of exactly this, where an episode is rewritten, and the author then cites the source at the bottom of the chapter.

Using the above as an example:

Say you rewrote Chosen, the series finale for Buffy. You made it fairly different from the episode itself, but it was critical to the chapter to include some of the episode dialogue. At the bottom, you'd have something like this:

*some dialogue from Chosen, Season 7, episode 144.

Although the title of the episode would honestly be sufficient.

[SladinForever]

Awesome, thanks very much! I will definitely add footnotes

[Kurahieiritr]

Yep, that's exactly it.

You can look through many, many buffy 'verse stories and find examples of exactly this, where an episode is rewritten, and the author then cites the source at the bottom of the chapter.

Using the above as an example:

Say you rewrote Chosen, the series finale for Buffy. You made it fairly different from the episode itself, but it was critical to the chapter to include some of the episode dialogue. At the bottom, you'd have something like this:

*some dialogue from Chosen, Season 7, episode 144.

Although the title of the episode would honestly be sufficient.

A: I place a spoiler heavy tag at the top of every chapter where I am twisting the anime I write. I do not write anything verbatim for dialog, while keeping it true to the original commentaries made. I tagged in the top of chapter 1 that I am following the cannon story closely as an additional tag to cover the spoiler nature of the prequel I am writing. Does a somewhat accurately written description of visual car races from the show I have watched fall under the rules as needing some form of additional citing in each chapter? Or, does the spoiler heavy alert in the Author note heading suffice in this instance?

[DemonGoddess]

spoiler heavy works, as it's still your original writing. The concern with this is the lifting of content from the show scripts. If you use descriptives, for example, that are EXACTLY as they are in the script, that would need cited.

[Kurahieiritr]

spoiler heavy works, as it's still your original writing. The concern with this is the lifting of content from the show scripts. If you use descriptives, for example, that are EXACTLY as they are in the script, that would need cited.

A: Hm, I have never seen the show's scripts, so not certain if the descriptives truly classify under that heading. I compact multiple episodes into a single chapter when it comes to car races Takumi participates in as a rule. Sometimes I have the race squarely in Keisuke's point of view such as he hears radio commentary from teammates at different points of the course that describes the actions. Other times I may need to cite, but would placing a "Spoiler heavy episodes 6 through 9 from Initial D 1st stage" at the top in my A/N section an acceptable alternative to the bottom of the chapter?

[JayDee]

Has anybody ever done a read-the-book HP fic where hufflepuffs flick through desperately looking for anything interesting about their house/students?