Fan vs. Creator

As fandom has gained traction, more and more creators of original content are taking notice and attempting to cater to and communicate with these dedicated fans. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry was known to take time writing handwritten letters to fans of the show to keep them updated about the show's running and answer questions he received in fan mail. He was also a supporter of fan creations.

Shows like long-running "Supernatural" (recently renewed for a 14th season), which gained a following of millions of avid fans, most of them young women, has introduced entire plot lines into the show that are nods to things that fans have speculated about, and introduced characters like Charlie Bradbury.

Played by one-woman fandom powerhouse Felicia Day, Bradbury's character is a direct extension of the fandom community for "Supernatural." Her character is an avid fan of various pop cultural things, is a hacker, and a lesbian which are all aspects of fandom that are fairly popular. The show has also featured episodes about a high school play put on by fans of the main Supernatural characters, included another character who is a comedic interpretation of a fanfiction writer, and have made several more nods to fans throughout the years.

That being said, not all relationships between fans and creators are positive. One reason that fan works have been so underrepresented in mainstream media up until the last five years is because for a long time, there was a real possibility of fan creators being sued for violating copyright law for various books, movies, and television shows. One great example of this disastrous relationship between fan and creator can be seen in the history of writer Anne Rice's fan community. This is a story that is still passed around in fandom circles whenever fans see creators and fan writer or artists getting a little too close for comfort. In the late '90s and early 2000s, Anne Rice publicly expressed her disdain for what were then called "specs," short for "speculative fiction" (which has now become "fan fiction"). Specs became hugely popular because of the internet. However, Rice's disdain for fan fiction resulted in cease-and-desist letters being distributed to many of her fans and shut down many forums which contained specs. Fans have claimed that they received threatening e-mails regarding their written fan fiction, and that forum server admins were harassed by Rice's lawyers.

As more creators become aware of their fans, division among fans about how exactly the gap between the two should be bridged differs. Some argue that fan writers and artists should not have any contact with original-work creators because they don't believe that fans should try to force creators to include what they want in a work. Others argue that communication between both parties healthy and will help to create content that can be both more inclusive and more enjoyable for everyone involved. Some fans have crossed the line (see the 2012 incident where fans of the "Sterek" ship on MTV show "Teen Wolf" sent show writers cookies in a bid to convince creators to make the ship canon) and others watch from afar. It remains to be seen how this relationship will evolve - nevertheless, it seems that there will be a relationship.