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I know we always used to get annoyed at the WC kids for regurgitating the same plot over and over with no respect for the source material they were supposedly such fans of, but so much of that was because of how truly dire and effortless their actual stories were as well.

What I'm wondering now is, actual quality of the writing aside, is there a point where a fanfiction is so lacking in original anything that it should be disallowed as borderline plagiarism? Or is it always acceptable as long as credit is given?

What brought this to mind is a demo that was posted recently (not actually tagged as fanfiction though the title made it obvious) that apparently just walked through the opening of a video game step by step, using the exact dialogue, the author presumably with plans to make the finished product cover the rest of the game. 

It seems to have been reasonably well accepted despite most readers obviously being familiar with the source material and it being a demo. So are games that are essentially walkthroughs of other games acceptable? I'm leery of this because it seems like a kind of slippery slope deal and I'd hate to see the site flooded with this kind of thing over original work, but at the same time I could think of a couple of classic games it might be fun to give that treatment to. Or what about borrowing from other media such as movies or using passages from actual books? 

 

I know the game you mean. Personally it doesn't bother me much because I don't see it becoming an issue. This is the first time I've seen somebody just copy another game word for word and I highly doubt anybody else is going to have the time or patience to do the same thing. It's a very long and complex game (as far as CYS games would be concerned) and honestly, I think writing a word for word version of it would be extremely difficult to do. I mean you'd have to play the same game over and over making every single decision and writing down word for word what the characters say after each decision, and doing several different playthroughs because the things you say and do earlier in the game effect what happens later in the game... I think this is just going to be a one-off thing.

We can deal with it the same way we dealt with Warrior Cats: If it's bad, rate it poorly. If it's persistently bad, take it behind the barn and shoot it.

Actually, copy pasting word-for-word is plagiarism and that sort of game will be deleted.

If it covers something in their own words, then it is likely to be OK as fanfic.

It doesn't. It's just a word for word copy of TellTales The Walking Dead.

Then it's most certainly plagiarism.

Too bad then...

In the U.S. there isn't a clear legal consensus on the overarching legality of fan fiction works (without express consent from an author or owner of a work). Parody and critiques are legally considered fair use. Fan fiction has not necessarily or historically been considered fair use, but there are legal arguments that fan fiction that is transformative in nature meets the fair use standard. They even have advocacy coalitions!

Obviously any characters that are in the public domain are up for grabs.

As I understand it for the following...

As far as quoting direct passages from other works, you should probably be fine so long as you are attributing them in some way, aren't casting them in a negative light or making a profit off the work you are incorporating them in. I believe the rules change somewhat for works that earn a profit. But that is what agents are for.

Generally, using brand names, such as Mountain Dew or Apple is acceptable so long as the brand is capitalized and the product isn't cast in a negative light. So you probably should avoid writing how Apple rapes babies in secret while plotting to start the zombie apocalypse in order to gain immortality through deus ex machina and rule humanity.

Of course, it's highly unlikely anyone is going to raise a fuss about anything other than the most blatant of issues here. Still, I think it's only proper to be respectful of others' work. (Beware of Disney though, they're crazy with their copyright protection!)