I do like the term "transformative work" because it is so broad yet meaningful. For example, consider, "Stuff that doesn't include canon characters OR plot OR settings" I wrote a LOTR fanfic like this, at least in part. It was a brief biography of one of the Ruffians who infested the Shire; I had him come from one of the Name-on-the-map places that got no detail in canon, so I made that setting up, I made him up, I made up his evil adventures before and during his time in the Shire. I do still absolutely consider it a LOTR fanfic, in that I wrote it to explore a couple of unexplored bits of Middle-Earth. It's a transformative work.
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I do like the term "transformative work" because it is so broad yet meaningful. For example, consider, "Stuff that doesn't include canon characters OR plot OR settings" I wrote a LOTR fanfic like this, at least in part. It was a brief biography of one of the Ruffians who infested the Shire; I had him come from one of the Name-on-the-map places that got no detail in canon, so I made that setting up, I made him up, I made up his evil adventures before and during his time in the Shire. I do still absolutely consider it a LOTR fanfic, in that I wrote it to explore a couple of unexplored bits of Middle-Earth. It's a transformative work.