History Main / IDoNotOwn

This kind of "I Do Not Own" disclaimer comes from a misunderstanding of [[UsefulNotes/{{copyright}} copyright law]]; fanfic writers seem to believe that it's concerned with [[UsefulNotes/{{Plagiarism}} taking credit for someone else's work]].[[note]]High school English class is a particular culprit, as teachers will often admonish plagiarism by pointing out that it's ''also'' copyright infringement, but students don't grasp that there's a difference between the two.[[/note]] So as long as [[MostFanficWritersAreGirls she]] is explicit that she didn't create the characters or setting, she's not taking credit for the work, and is thus home free. The problem is that copyright law is concerned with protecting the original author's rights, whether or not the fanfic writer takes credit for the work. You can be liable for copyright infringement as long as the creator of the original work loses money because of your fic. (This can happen even if you don't charge for your fanfic; the rights holder can argue that he could have written your story just as easily and charged money for it, except your free version is there, so now he can't.) Some fanfic authors try to head off legal consequences by pointing out that they have little, no, or ''negative'' assets; this never works because rights holders don't care about your assets so much as protecting their ''own'' assets and stopping you from doing further damage.

* Paraphrase: "I do not own the characters in ''Series/{{House}}''. I do own the complete sets of UsefulNotes/{{DVD}}s. One cancels out the other." Found on "Casualty" by Angelfirenze, an "M"-rated Series/{{House}} "FixFic" running in an AlternateUniverse.

** ZUN himself did this in ''Literature/CuriositiesOfLotusAsia'', not with a character or a universe (''Touhou'' being a {{doujin}} series), but with a [[spoiler:UsefulNotes/GameBoy]].

* [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4631579/33 Chapter 33]] of ''Spoiled Brats'', a ''{{Anime/Ranma|OneHalf}}'' fanfic by [=DarkFyre99=], actually quotes the first paragraph of this article (as it stood as of November 2009) as its disclaimer.

* At least one ''Series/DoctorWho'' fanfic featuring characters from both ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'' and ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'' had a disclaimer along the lines of "Franchise/BerniceSummerfield is the property of... actually, I don't even know any more."

* Parodied by ''Webcomic/{{Eatatau}}'', which has a sidebar on every page of the website with a LongList of things that ''Creator/GamesWorkshop'', rather than the author, doesn't own, including things like "Eldar" and "Space Marine" that are OlderThanTheyThink.

* Fanfiction of Creator/JossWhedon's works nearly universally comes with a clever disclaimer, often "Joss is Boss" (particularly for ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' fics) and "Everything is owned by Joss Whedon" (ironically, the only one of those works he ''actually'' owns himself is ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog''). In particular, the fic ''([[http://www.fanfiction.net/u/122787/Meltha Meltha]]'' has this disclaimer:

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-oStcPtFl0 This]] ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' clip on ''Website/{{Youtube}}'' spoofs the disclaimer on many reuploaded clips by cheerfully claiming ownership.

--> ''[=AdamTheDroog=]:'' Copyright infringement intended. This is my clip not Matt Groening's.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-oStcPtFl0 This]] ''WesternAnimation/Futurama'' clip on ''Website/{{Youtube}}'' spoofs the disclaimer on many reuploaded clips by cheerfully claiming ownership.

* From MLIA-Anime's ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'' fanfic ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5816799/1/A_Memorable_Moment A Memorable Moment]]'':

This kind of "I Do Not Own" disclaimer comes from a misunderstanding of [[UsefulNotes/{{copyright}} copyright law]]; fanfic writers seem to believe that it's concerned with [[UsefulNotes/{{Plagiarism}} taking credit for someone else's work]].[[note]]High school English class is a particular culprit, as teachers will often admonish plagiarism by pointing out that it's also copyright infringement, but students don't grasp that there's technically a difference between the two.[[/note]] So as long as [[MostFanficWritersAreGirls she]] is explicit that she didn't create the characters or setting, she's not taking credit for the work, and is thus home free. The problem is that copyright law is concerned with protecting the original author's rights, whether or not the fanfic writer takes credit for the work. You can be liable for copyright infringement as long as the creator of the original work loses money because of your fic. (This can happen even if you don't charge for your fanfic; the rights holder can argue that he could have written your story just as easily and charged money for it, except your free version is there, so now he can't.) Some fanfic authors try to head off legal consequences by pointing out that they have little, no, or ''negative'' assets; this never works because rights holders don't care about your assets so much as protecting their ''own'' assets and stopping you from doing further damage.

FanFic writers frequently see the need to begin their fiction with statements that look sort of like the page quote, usually as part of the FanficHeader, but it can also be found in the descriptions for fan art and/or fan comics. These disclaimers are not only completely useless from a legal point of view -- in fact, they might even be counterproductive -- but they're also generally redundant, especially if posted on a website like Website/FanFictionDotNet which already includes its own well-written legal disclaimers.

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]

* From Rob "Kenko" Haynie's ''[[Manga/RanmaOneHalf Ranma]]'' fic ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/391277 Fair Warning]]'':
-->''(Yo, [[Creator/RumikoTakahashi Rumiko]]-[[UsefulNotes/JapaneseHonorifics chan]]! Borrowing the kids for a while, don't worry. I'll have them dry-cleaned before I return them. --Kenko)''

* ''Manga/DeathNote'' fanfics tend to have disclaimers along the lines of "If I owned ''Death Note'', [character X] would still be alive" or "I do not own Light, but he probably owns me." The first and only disclaimer of ''FanFic/KiraIsJustice'' ends with "And remember, this will be the last time you'll be seeing this."

* ''FanFic/ThePrivateDiaryOfElizabethQuatermain'' has this disclaimer:

* One [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/2 chapter]] of ''FanFic/HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality'' begins "#include "stddisclaimer.h"; in fact, the first 33 chapters include a variety of humorous disclaimers, often with shoutouts to various fandoms. The author also posts this on chapter 7:

-->'' Do I look like I own Niall and Edward? Really? Wow, that would account for the millions of dollars I DON'T have.''

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'':

** ZUN himself did this in ''Literature/CuriositiesOfLotusAsia'', not with a character or a universe (Touhou being a {{doujin}} series), but with a [[spoiler:UsefulNotes/GameBoy]].

* [[@/{{rcmerod52}} John]] has some fun with these in ''FanFic/EddwardWrightAceAttorney'', starting with Chapter 7:

* The ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' ElsewhereFic ''FanFic/BoyScoutsOneHalf'' ends each story with such a disclaimer. Early stories were just a brief note saying something to the effect that the story used elements of ''Ranma ½'' without permission, and also that the story was not directly affiliated with or meant to directly represent the values of the Boy Scouts of America. Very quickly these post story notes expanded to also provide various anecdotal authors notes, and to occasionally disclaim additional things when homages to things other then ''Ranma ½'' occurred.

* The author's note to the fifth chapter of ''FanFic/HogwartsSchoolOfPrayerAndMiracles'' disclaims ownership of the "original books" in these exact words.

* ''FanFic/HarryPotterBecomesACommunist'' opens with:

** After the removal of ''WebVideo/SailorMoonAbridged'' from Website/YouTube, that exact quote is the first thing added to the episodes, accompanied by a picture of Raye and the word "Fa**"

-->''...and to all you bitch ass half cocked so called artists on DA, I DON'T OWN AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER(c) or the original characters from it. [[CompletelyMissingThePoint never said I did]]. The art and fiction from both HIBY stories I do own. read the fine print next time you fucking morons. write about that in your forom because I know you will. And by the way I'm doing better than ever! thanks for the fame!''

So all of this begs a question: if almost every fan-created piece of art infringes on copyright, disclaimers or not, then why is it still so prolific? Because of SturgeonsLaw; a good ninety percent of this fan stuff is utter crap. It's not nearly good enough to even dent the revenues of the original work -- this realization goes back to ''Series/{{Star Trek|TheOriginalSeries}}'' fan magazines in the 1970s (which, incidentally, is also the origin of this sort of disclaimer). What ''can'' lose a rights holder money, though, is the terrible publicity from suing a fanfic author. People who have never seen the original work before would certainly not check it out if they thought the rights holder was a litigious jerk. It might drive current fans of the original work away out of retaliation for such an act of cruelty, or out of fear that they'll be sued for liking the work "the wrong way." Most rights holders don't mind fanfic because it helps consolidate the fan community in general; those who do are rare enough to be listed on FanworkBan, and many of them have more ethical than legal reasons to do so. Rights holders tend to be more proactive where the fan work can actually lose them revenue (like homemade video games), but they tend to start with a Cease and Desist order in those cases in the hopes that the parties can reach a mutually acceptable conclusion.

* The author of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' in fact only allows fanfics if they include [[http://www.jim-butcher.com/news/000354.php a proper disclaimer]], so all fanfic will have this sort of disclaimer by default.

* Chapter two of [[http://sana-the-random.deviantart.com/art/Edward-Larrikin-X-Niall-two-158311187 a crossover fic]] of ''Wicked Lovely'' and the indie band LarrikinLove, featuring Niall and said band's lead singer as a pairing, has this disclaimer:

-->I do not own Kim Possible, or any related characters. I also do not own a 1997 Chevy Impala, but that is completely irrelevant. [[note]]There was no such car, anyway; no Impalas were produced for model years 1997 to 1999.[[/note]]\\
\\
I do not own Kim Possible, or any related characters. If I did, Dr Drakken would have a German accent (cliché I know, but really, doesn't the name "Drakken" sound German?)\\
\\
I don't own Kim Possible, or any related characters. Of course, even if I did none of you would believe me.\\
\\
I do not own Kim Possible or any related characters. Please don't tell on me.\\
\\

* In '' WebAnimation/{{Evaporate}}'', Nerv puts a disclaimer like this at the end of his FanFilm while missing the point of having it and [[NotHelpingYourCase Not Helping His Case]].

* Technically a subversion (he ''is'' the artist) but see for yourself on comic artist Jay Fife's webpage:

So all of this begs a question: if almost every fan-created piece of art infringes on copyright, disclaimers or not, then why is it still so prolific? Because of SturgeonsLaw; a good ninety percent of this fan stuff is utter crap. It's not nearly good enough to even dent the revenues of the original work -- this realization goes back to ''Series/{{Star Trek|TheOriginalSeries}}'' fan magazines in the 1970s (which, incidentally, is also the origin of this sort of disclaimer). What ''can'' lose a rights holder money, though, is the terrible publicity from suing a fanfic author; people who have never seen the original work before would certainly not check it out if they thought the rights holder was a jerk, and it might drive current fans away out of retaliation or fear that they'll be sued for liking the work "the wrong way." In fact, most rights holders don't mind fanfic because it helps consolidate the fan community in general; those who do are rare enough to be listed on FanworkBan, and many of them have more ethical than legal reasons to do so. Rights holders tend to be more proactive where the fan work can actually lose them revenue (like homemade video games), but they tend to start with a Cease and Desist order in those cases in the hopes that the parties can reach a mutually acceptable conclusion.

Regardless, it's generally accepted from both sides these days that the original creators can and should look the other way when it comes to people creating fan work of their original content if the fans are doing it out of passion and not a desire to profit off of someone else's work. Thus, the disclaimers are more of a tradition than an attempt at actual legality. They are often used to show gratitude to the original creators for giving us the original work; some compare them to Creator/{{Homer}}'s invocation of the muse. Some authors also use them to clearly demarcate which elements of their story are canonical and which are invented (''e.g.'' "I don't own any of these characters, except my AuthorAvatar"). As such, people frequently use vague, cutesy, or parodic disclaimers, along these lines:

FanFic writers frequently see the need to begin their fiction with statements that look sort of like the page quote, usually as part of the FanficHeader, but it can also be found in the descriptions for fan art and/or fan comics. These disclaimers are not only completely useless -- or even counterproductive -- from a legal point of view, but also generally redundant, especially if posted on a website like Website/FanFictionDotNet which already includes its own well-written legal disclaimers.

This kind of disclaimer comes from a misunderstanding of [[UsefulNotes/{{copyright}} copyright law]]; fanfic writers seem to believe that it's concerned with [[UsefulNotes/{{Plagiarism}} taking credit for someone else's work]].[[note]]High school English class is a particular culprit, as teachers will often admonish plagiarism by pointing out that it's also copyright infringement, but students don't grasp that there's technically a difference between the two.[[/note]] So as long as [[MostFanficWritersAreGirls she]] is explicit that she didn't create the characters or setting, she's not taking credit for the work, and is thus home free. The problem is that copyright law is concerned with protecting the original author's rights, whether or not the fanfic writer takes credit for the work. You can be liable for copyright infringement as long as the creator of the original work loses money because of your fic. (This can happen even if you don't charge for your fanfic; the rights holder can argue that he could have written your story just as easily and charged money for it, except your free version is there, so now he can't.) Some fanfic authors try to head off legal consequences by pointing out that they have little, no, or ''negative'' assets; this never works because rights holders don't care about your assets so much as protecting their ''own'' assets and stopping you from doing further damage.

* Parodied by the ''{{Manga/Naruto}}'' fanfic ''NarutoTheSecretSongsOfTheNinja'', where the first chapter starts with a normal one of these before breaking off half-way through to incredulously ask what the point is of stating something every reader already knows. Chapter 2 followed up on this and each successive chapter comes up with a new joke:

-->''[[Franchise/KingdomHearts Sora, Riku, and Kairi]] are copyright Lucasfilm, Inc. [[MickeyMouse Mickey]], Donald, and Goofy are copyright [[RougeAnglesOfSatin Nickelodean]].''

** ZUN himself did this in ''Literature/CuriositiesOfLotusAsia'', not with a character or a universe (Touhou being a {{doujin}} series), but with a [[spoiler:GameBoy]].

-->I do not own Kim Possible, or any related characters. I also do not own a 1997 Chevy Impala, but that is completely irrelevant.[[note]]There was no such car, anyway.[[/note]]\\

-->''[[KingdomHearts Sora, Riku, and Kairi]] are copyright Lucasfilm, Inc. [[MickeyMouse Mickey]], Donald, and Goofy are copyright [[RougeAnglesOfSatin Nickelodean]].''