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Chanslash

Fan fiction that involves underage characters in romantic pairings

Chanslash is a subset of fan fiction, in which people write their own stories using characters from popular television shows, movies, and books. Chanslash is any such story that involves underage characters in a romantic pairing (usually same-sex).

While fan fiction can be a great creative outlet for children, a young Harry Potter fan could accidentally run across chanslash in her search for more stories about her favorite characters. While this can be disturbing for both the child and the parent, most chanslash is clearly labeled as such and can thus be avoided.

Protective Measures

Practices

  • Monitor your child's Internet activity: The best way to keep your child from reading inappropriate material on the Internet is for you to keep a close eye on her browsing activity. Keep the family computer in a central location (not in your child's bedroom) and frequently check the pages that your child is viewing.

Tools

  • Parental control software: There are many software applications available that can filter the content your child is allowed to view on the Internet. Usually these applications check the site that your child wants to see against a list of offensive sites. There are a wide variety of options available, so do your research to find out which tool is right for you. The GetNetWise  Web site can help you compare features on different software packages.

Legal

Because characters from books and TV shows are protected by copyright, fan fiction potentially violates copyright law. Therefore, sites that publish chanslash can be sued for both copyright infringement and obscenity. According to the Supreme Court, material is considered obscene and outside the protection of the first amendment if:
  1. The average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest
  2. The work depicts, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law
  3. The work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value

References

Links

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