Fanfiction is, by one definition, a text dependant on a pre-existing canon of events and characters in an “original” source, but it is nevertheless highly debatable where “fanfic” ends and “original” material begins. In today’s popular culture, we are bombarded by the fact that very little is “original” anymore: depending on who you ask, there are as few as seven “original” plotlines in existence. In terms of the wider literary world, fanfic shares fluid borders with “remakes,” “re-imaginings,” or even “allegories,” and “allusions.” Fandom is an even more pervasive social phenomenon, whereby non-creators and non-originators (“fans”) of any form of entertainment become participants and, in effect, partial owners of a text. Students will explore the fluidity of these concepts of who owns a text in the face of copyright legislation, definitions of intellectual property, and freedom of information. Ultimately students will be encouraged to form their own conclusions and definitions of what it means to be a fan and a conscientious consumer in the information age, and also how to define the boundary between derivative and original material.