As I understand it, not all doujinshi are fan fiction. Some are just amateur-published comics with limited print runs. Doujinshi that are fan fiction aren't technically legal, but they're tolerated. For one thing, it makes fans happy, which widens the fan base. For another, they're a good way for publishers to scout new talent.
Sometimes, creators will officially waive the copyright for a few days at a time (say for the week of a major comics convention) so that fans can legally sell and trade doujinshi in that period. Also, a lot of creators started out as doujinshi artists themselves. They sometimes go on record as encouraging fan doujinshi for their work.
Japanese consider doujinshi as similar to our adaptations of Shakespeare's plays. They could prosecute if they wanted to, but they don't see the harm in fans creatively reinterpreting their work. They've still got the original, and that's what people will always come back to. So Japanese are much more likely to crack down on the outright reproduction of 'canon' work, which ticks them off to no end since they're so generous otherwise.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2004-10-20 09:48 am (UTC)Sometimes, creators will officially waive the copyright for a few days at a time (say for the week of a major comics convention) so that fans can legally sell and trade doujinshi in that period. Also, a lot of creators started out as doujinshi artists themselves. They sometimes go on record as encouraging fan doujinshi for their work.
Japanese consider doujinshi as similar to our adaptations of Shakespeare's plays. They could prosecute if they wanted to, but they don't see the harm in fans creatively reinterpreting their work. They've still got the original, and that's what people will always come back to. So Japanese are much more likely to crack down on the outright reproduction of 'canon' work, which ticks them off to no end since they're so generous otherwise.