Copyright Wars – Episode I: The Fandom Menace?

Fan fiction involves stories written by fans that use characters, themes, and settings from existing works of fiction. They span a wide array of genres, from imaginative twists on tales set in the Star Wars universe, to narratives told using gender-swapped versions of characters, or even the "re-sorting" of Harry Potter characters into different Hogwarts "houses."

With the rise of self-publishing and online platforms, there has been a surge of interest in fan fiction. But what are fan fiction authors allowed to do with these characters and universes created by others, and when does the work infringe the copyright of the original? Things can get even more complicated when authors evolve their fan fiction into a distinct world, in some cases incorporating many of the themes developed in their fan fiction communities. One recent example is the dispute between Zoey Ellis and Addison Cain, two authors whose works fall within the Omegaverse erotica genre, which itself