INAL, but I'm very certain that you're looking at copyright the wrong way.
Copyright law does not restrict parody. Nor does it restrict discussion of an original work. Nor does it prevent people from using snippets of the original work in the course of discussion. In fact, copyright does have a "fair use" clause, all of which are the case.
That corporate entities are trying to close that "fair use loophole" is a completely separate argument.
However, in no way, shape, or form can most forms of fanfic or fan works hide behind "parody" or fair use. And protecting a copyright holder's right to, y'know, actually own their creation and decide on how it's used in the public sphere is not a violation of your free speech rights.
And again, it has been ruled time and time again that the First Amendment is: 1) not absolute; 2) applies only to the U.S. government; and 3) applies to political speech.
Fanfiction may in some cases be considered a parody. Fanfiction may in some cases considered a form of political speech. However, in the main, that is not what fanfiction is.
Furthermore, the U.S. Government can't go stomping in and put a stop to fanfiction just because, say, Warner Brothers gets its corporate panties in a bunch over HP slash. If Warner Brothers wants to get pissy about HP slash, it's got to send out a raft of cease-and-desist orders. Which means that fanfiction is a civil matter between two private entities, not a criminal one.
So, again. No matter how you paint this, someone squashing your ability to write fanfiction, be it random corporate entity or your next-door neighbor thinking you're a loon, is not a repression of your civil rights.
no subject
Copyright law does not restrict parody. Nor does it restrict discussion of an original work. Nor does it prevent people from using snippets of the original work in the course of discussion. In fact, copyright does have a "fair use" clause, all of which are the case.
That corporate entities are trying to close that "fair use loophole" is a completely separate argument.
However, in no way, shape, or form can most forms of fanfic or fan works hide behind "parody" or fair use. And protecting a copyright holder's right to, y'know, actually own their creation and decide on how it's used in the public sphere is not a violation of your free speech rights.
And again, it has been ruled time and time again that the First Amendment is: 1) not absolute; 2) applies only to the U.S. government; and 3) applies to political speech.
Fanfiction may in some cases be considered a parody. Fanfiction may in some cases considered a form of political speech. However, in the main, that is not what fanfiction is.
Furthermore, the U.S. Government can't go stomping in and put a stop to fanfiction just because, say, Warner Brothers gets its corporate panties in a bunch over HP slash. If Warner Brothers wants to get pissy about HP slash, it's got to send out a raft of cease-and-desist orders. Which means that fanfiction is a civil matter between two private entities, not a criminal one.
So, again. No matter how you paint this, someone squashing your ability to write fanfiction, be it random corporate entity or your next-door neighbor thinking you're a loon, is not a repression of your civil rights.