For my term project I chose to explore the legal status of fanfiction within Canadian Copyright Law. My focus on this topic was inspired by my long-time love for the Harry Potter series, which first introduced me to fanfiction, as well as Professor Festinger’s comments in his October 31 lecture, regarding the uncertain status of fanworks and cosplay in copyright law. By studying the Copyright Act (CA), as well as Canadian and American scholarly works, I learned a lot about the effects of fanfiction on literature, the potential for fanfiction to be infringing and defensible, and what questions continue to emerge within this niche of legal analysis.
I have enclosed my findings in PDF form below, because that format best allowed me to use footnotes to credit the authors I reference.
Please feel free to leave questions, comments, or alternative opinions in the comments below. I would love to continue discussion about this topic with anyone who is interested!
Communications Law