Xena (The Warrior Princess), P.T. Barnum (The Humbug Prince), and Copyrights
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| Title: | Xena (The Warrior Princess), P.T. Barnum (The Humbug Prince), and Copyrights |
| Creator: | Virginia Carper |
| Date(s): | July 2000 |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom: | Xena: Warrior Princess |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | Xena (The Warrior Princess), P.T. Barnum (The Humbug Prince), and Copyrights, Archived version |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Xena (The Warrior Princess), P.T. Barnum (The Humbug Prince), and Copyrights is an essay by Virginia Carper.
It was posted to Whoosh! #46 in 2000.
"What will be the fate of Xena fan fiction when Xena goes off the air? Will RenPic continue to tolerate its existence? Will they become worried if fans seem to dictate what Xena should or should not be doing?"
Topics
- Battle Over Fan Fiction
- Battle Over Giants
- Wars Over Words
- Humbug Princes and Warrior Princesses At War
- Uber Xena, Uber Barnum
- Under The Big Tent
- Note
- Further Information
- Biography
Excerpts
Battle Over Giants
Some copyright holders fear that sharing an audience with fan fiction writers will result in people not being able to tell the difference between the "real" character (i.e., RenPic's "Xena") and the copies (i.e., the fans' "Xenas").
P.T. Barnum, America's premiere Showman, had similar fears in the 1870's. In upstate New York, George Hull and his cousin William Newell plotted to fool the public with a fake prehistoric man. Their Cardiff Giant became a popular attraction enticing crowds to pay fifty cents to see the petrified statue. The carving looked so authentic that scientists argued whether the Cardiff Giant was a real petrified man or a prehistoric statue. Newell sold the giant to a banker, David Hannum, who displayed it in Syracuse, charging a dollar per person to see it.
Meanwhile, P. T. Barnum was looking for a new exhibit for his American Museum, which included such oddities as the White Whale and the Woolly Horse. Barnum offered Hannum $50,000 for the giant, but Hannum refused. Ever resourceful, Barnum made a copy, which he claimed was the original. Angry, Hannum applied for a court order to stop Barnum. The judge ruled that both men had copies and could exhibit their fake giants.
Could the character Xena become television's example of the Cardiff Giant? Which is the original, and which is the copy? This could become RenPic's nightmare, since Xena is their intellectual property, not the fans' writing Xena fiction.
UberXena fan fiction (Uber-fiction) explores the themes of XWP outside the construct of the TV show. In their Uber-fiction, writers examine the archetypes that Xena and Gabrielle represent. Because of this, many of the Uber- fiction characters are at least two degrees removed from the original XWP characters.
In one of my Whoosh! articles, The Exploration Of The Descendants of Xena, et al [No. 13, October 1997], I constructed an history where the descendants of Gabrielle and Callisto would meet each other. The Smythe family (Callisto) and the Covington family (Gabrielle) were present at the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia in the early 1600s. Would a story written about these families, with the Callisto and Gabrielle archetypes, be a violation of the RenPic's copyright, or would it be a separate work?
Bridgeport started the Barnum Festival in the late 1940s to promote city pride. Patterned after P.T. Barnum's circus, the Festival included acts such as Jenny Lind, the "Swedish Nightingale". Every year, the city sponsored a music student from Sweden to perform as Jenny. Another major event was the choosing of a local elementary schools student to be General Tom Thumb (Charles Stratton). The lucky student received prize money and was feted at the Festival. One could say that the Festival is a Uber-Barnum version of his original circus. The spirit of Barnum is certainly present in the Festival's activities.
In the world of Uber-fiction, anything is possible. To capitalize on the popularity of Uber-fiction, RenPic produced two shows [BETWEEN THE LINES (83/415) and DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN (90/422)] in the fourth season. Both shows explored the Uber theme of reincarnation and soul mates.
Then perhaps, P.T. Barnum is an Uber-Salmoneus, or did RenPic base their character on P.T. Barnum? Both men had similar personalities and philosophies. Now, which is the original, and which is the copy?