I've never actually looked into the legal situation for fanfic in Germany. (see as that's where I live, maybe I should have done that sooner *facepalm*)
I didn't find anything really useful so far (as in nobody neatly spelled it out for me). But! German copyright low does allow for derivative works to be copyrighted, IF they reach a certain amount of originality.
I have currently no idea how much originality they require (and it seems to be decided on a case-by-case basis). And this is probably not what we are looking for exactly - you get full copyright. If you wanted, you could sell your works. Which opens up another can of worms I don't think anybody wants to get into. German copyright law doesn't make a lot of references to non.commercial use, from what little I understand.
I'm currently poking around, looking for a more or less reliable message board filled with people who talk lawyer-speek.)
tidbit of German legal info
I didn't find anything really useful so far (as in nobody neatly spelled it out for me).
But! German copyright low does allow for derivative works to be copyrighted, IF they reach a certain amount of originality.
I have currently no idea how much originality they require (and it seems to be decided on a case-by-case basis). And this is probably not what we are looking for exactly - you get full copyright. If you wanted, you could sell your works. Which opens up another can of worms I don't think anybody wants to get into.
German copyright law doesn't make a lot of references to non.commercial use, from what little I understand.
I'm currently poking around, looking for a more or less reliable message board filled with people who talk lawyer-speek.)