So, whose fiction is it?

In what appears to be a lucrative move, Amazon is allowing fan fiction of Pretty Little Liars, Gossip Girls[sic], and The Vampire Diaries to be sold on their website. Kindle Worlds will be the fan fiction platform where authors can upload their stories for sale, and this space will only be piloted in America to start. However, there is no set date as of now for when fanfiction will be made available for purchase.

It's great to give writers a chance at making money doing something they love. In this case, writing stories that can actually give make them a profit for a series they already enjoy is phenomenal.

... But it is important to recognize that authors will only get 20-35% of royalties and Amazon Publishing will own international publication rights to these works. So, is this a good deal?

Perhaps if we consider that the characters belong to another author's handiwork, it does. After all, the fanfic authors are applying those characters to their own themes and one could argue that they are lucky to get any profit at all. Still, the fanfic authors' creative extension of a storyline should also be recognized, hence why they receive a portion of the royalties, but not all. Considering that Amazon is looking to test the popularity of fanfic sales under its own name and is willing to even create a separate space for these tales, fanfiction itself must be an intriguing underground "industry" at this point in time. And here, I always thought it was silly. I must be mistaken!

Overall, the main concern here is who holds intellectual property rights, which with the Internet has gained a more visibility than in the past. If Kindle worlds ever launches, we will see the repercussions and intellectual property debates once again.