SPOILERS ALL BOOKS You know you're hooked when...

[Albertosaurus Rex]

...when you make a Fool-themed spin on an old meme and use it as your avatar.

[NeverBeenWise]

...when you're reading Twelfth Night or King Lear and every time you see "Fool" you get a little smile on your face. Which is, on average, a few times per page.
...when you listen to "Leaving On a Jet Plane" and "I Want It That Way" and think of the parts of the books that correspond to the aforementioned songs. And you get the idea to modify said songs and put RotE-related things in them, and want to film two guys singing them.
...when you see a drawing of the Fool and immediately know what part of the series it's from.
...when your walk to town includes all the essentials: your cell phone, wallet, iPod, pen, pencil, and Fool's Fate.
...when you go looking online for inexpensive jester costumes in black and white.
...when you realize sadly that you wouldn't make a very good member of the Old Blood because you want to have a Wit-bond with BOTH of your cats.
...when you get angry because you couldn't find Fool's Errand with the original cover.
...when you unknowingly quote the Fool in everyday conversation.
...when you make a character based on the Fool in a completely different online roleplay set in a completely different world.
...when you saw a comic in black and white about Fitzy and his Fool, laughed hysterically, and proceeded to print it out and color it in... after checking the details given in the books.
...when you see the word "tint" and get all excited, because you think it's going to say "Tintaglia."

Whew, that's enough for now.

[Albertosaurus Rex]

...when you get angry because you couldn't find Fool's Errand with the original cover.

...when you saw a comic in black and white about Fitzy and his Fool, laughed hysterically, and proceeded to print it out and color it in... after checking the details given in the books.

I feel your pain. I'm lucky myself that I managed to get it with the Howe cover. And I'm curious about that comic... even though Robin hobb doesn't permit unauthorized comics.

[Farseer]

...when you make a Fool-themed spin on an old meme and use it as your avatar.

Looking good, Albertosaurus Rex ! Way to go, NeverBeenWise !!!!

[NeverBeenWise]

She doesn't, Albertosaurus? It's fan art, and for a scene that doesn't occur in the books... oops. But it was hysterical. And lucky you... you don't know HOW long I searched for the original artwork. I just wanted a picture of the Fool's face...

Oh, speaking of which, I have another one.

...when you have all these mismatched socks that your mom was going to throw away, and you save them and start to make the Fool in his winter motley.

[Albertosaurus Rex]

She does permit fan art, but for pretty much everything else you have to ask permission. Which she's not likely to give...

(All right, so it wasn't a scene from the book, but then it's getting close to fan fiction isn't it?)

Question: Can I make a Role-playing game based on your world or books? It’s only just for fun, not profit, for this role-playing group on the Internet. Or, Can I make a little film from your books? It’s only for a contest, or just to share with my friends or only to put on my website. I don’t plan to make any money from it. Or, may I self-publish a little graphic novel I made from a scene in your book? I’ll make sure to say that I don’t own any of the rights.

Answer:

Rights are a rather tricky thing for a writer. You simply want to set up an RP or make a little movie and have some fun. You are not expecting to market a game or to profit from a movie.


It probably seems like it would be fun and simple if I simply said, “Sure, go ahead.”



But if the writer gives official permission, it can have unintended consequences in the future. If a game developer approaches the writer and wants to purchase the rights to make a game based on the books, the writer has to say, “I already gave someone else permission to do an RP of that.” Then the game developer may simply end the negotiation.



Or if the game developer purchases the rights and markets the game, the game developer may later take issue with someone else doing for free what he has paid for. The game developer may see it as a copyright infringement on the rights he has purchased. Or the person who has made the RP may look at the game developer and say, “You took a lot of the ideas that I first came up with for my RP and used them in your game that you sold for money. That’s not fair!”



Often, when an author sells a publisher the right to publish a book, the contract will specify that the publisher can sell ’sub rights’ as in movie rights or merchandise rights or gaming rights. If the publisher does sell those rights, then the author and the publisher share in the income from those rights. The publisher might not be happy to discover that the author had already given someone those rights for free.



This is why all rights permissions have to go through my agent. The agent keeps track of what rights have been purchased and by whom. If a writer gives someone permission to make a comic or an audio book version and at the same time the agent is negotiating a sale of those rights, things can get very messy for everyone, with possible law suits.



This is a long answer to what was probably seen as a fairly simple question. But often a writer is seen as stingy or selfish if he or she simply says, “No, you can’t do that, even if you are not planning on making money from it.”

And that sock costume is an awesome idea...

[NeverBeenWise]

A tricky business with those things that she allows and doesn't allow. It's a one-page, six-panel cartoon with... let's see... seventeen words? Off the top of my head... haha. Ah well, I'll keep that in mind... *sigh*

And thanks! Sadly, I'm not very good at sewing. So we'll see how he turns out. I took some artistic license and made a short black and white diamond cape for him, and I have an old sock that's got the barest hint of pink in it for his skin. It's just to separate the snow-white of his motley from the pinkish tint of his skin from his blood adding a tiny tint to it. I think I'm going to put wire in his arms and legs so he can bow and pose.

['thul]

... when you recall years afterwards that you missed your subway stop because you were too focused upon reading one of the liveship books...

(That be something these beings known as 'thul have managed to do...)

[Nuytsia]

And lucky you... you don't know HOW long I searched for the original artwork. I just wanted a picture of the Fool's face...

Oh, speaking of which, I have another one.

...when you have all these mismatched socks that your mom was going to throw away, and you save them and start to make the Fool in his winter motley.

[Farseer]

... when you recall years afterwards that you missed your subway stop because you were too focused upon reading one of the liveship books...