Fan Edit Legal Status

Hi Alderaan94,

The following threads may be of some interest on the subjects you mention in your above post…

‘George Lucas Predicts Fan Editing Back in 1995’ (2023 thread)

Legality, fan-edits, and more. Legality, fan-edits, and repercussions (2017 thread)

Legality of Fan Projects (2006 thread)

^ also with a mention of MagnoliaFan being invited to Skywalker Ranch after George saw his Episode I fan edit. More on that in here.
 

The ‘Phantom Edit(s)’ section of the An Index & Help Thread for Star Wars Fan Edits and Other Projects… thread (especially the ‘A few articles from around the time of release on ‘The Phantom Edit’’ segment) is also well worth a read as to some of the legal, ethical and moral standpoints on fan projects - and includes quotes from both George Lucas and Lucasfilm on the subject.
 

^ It includes this statement - from Lucasfilm…

In the July 2001 ‘Mystery of Star Wars Phantom Edit’ article on the BBC, Jeanne Cole - spokesperson for Lucasfilm, stated:-

“At the end of the day, this is about everyone just having fun with Star Wars.” She said the company did not pursue fans “as long as nobody crosses that line - either in bad taste or in profiting from the use of our characters [and IP]”.

The site’s Fan Edit / Preservation Forum Rules and FAQ and the Linking Policy within, along with the I have found a Fan Edit / Preservation I am interested in - but don’t know how to get / acquire / download it? section of the ‘How do I do this?’ on the OriginalTrilogy.com thread… should provide you with the information you seek.

Also feel free to seek out the advice of other fan editors or preservationists on the site, via PMs, as to how they make their projects available in general.

As to the people who look to sell and profit from the exhaustive work undertaken by the likes of Harmy and others in their respective fan-made projects (who make available their work for free and state you must own the official retail release before acquiring their work) - the following thread may be of interest…

Dealing with People Selling Fan Projects (2017 thread)
 

^ It is worth remembering pirates, scammers, thieves and leeches have been around long before the internet - selling other people’s work on tape or disc back in the day - at con halls, on market stalls, pubs and bars, some of more ‘dodgy’ video shops, and even order by mail etc…

Nobody likes it - it is not an excuse or justification - but is an unfortunate ‘fact of life’ in being part of being a content producer in the fan edit / preservation community… somebody may well put your work on a disc and sell it online etc. There is unfortunately no other way around it - other than to continue reporting these sellers, and also highlight to others that these projects are available for free with little-to-no effort - a little patience - and also owning the official retail release of a project, of course.

Harmy’s informative 4-minute ‘Fan Edits (& Fan Preservations) Must Never Be Bought Or Sold’ video on youtube is a useful tool for this - and also a reminder of how these sellers endanger the whole fan edit / preservation community.
 

Alderaan94 said:

Hello!
I would like to share some fan edits in the future but idk the legal status. I am from Spain and i own the BRs , source material. Is It legal to announce a fan edit and announce that i share links to download it for example to Google Drive ?

Other people here know far more and better than me, but this place and others like it, have been around for a long time, and have firm rules in place about not profiting from projects. And also having rules on owning the official retail release. They haven’t had any problems with the law.

Other places who try and sell and profit from projects have had problems with the law.

Websites that that have download links displayed on them have had problems with the law too.
 

As ooj advises: ask some of the fan editors or preservationists on here in PMs regarding your concerns. Some have been around for a very long time, and have not had any legal problems.
 

I hope to see more of your Edit 😃