Paid Fanfiction? Wait what?

So after my rant on fanfiction last year sometime, I about swallowed my tongue after reading this.  

Apparently, Amazon has acquired permission from a few TV shows (among other platforms, if I’m getting the insinuations right) to allow people to be paid for the fanfiction which they write about that particular show.  

I’m pretty sure Amazon is an evil marketing genius.  This is amazing.  I’m not saying that everyone wins, in fact I’m pretty sure that authors stands to lose a lot.  As understood so far, if the parent company like the fanfiction author’s ideas, they can pretty much just lift it straight off without so much as a note, and use it for their own devices.  However.  I do think this is a fabulous idea for a fledgling, and even a practiced author, as well as for the company.  

First, it gives the company free advertisement, world expansion, etc.  This is kind of important, because rabid fans are rabid fans, and this has the potential to take some pressure off to make more show when there are no ideas, no money, no time, anything like that.

Second, I’ve always said that fanfic was a good place to get your feet wet without really risking a whole lot.  That’s still going to hold true, except now it’s also a market to practice with money as well.  Is it fair that the company can lift the author’s ideas about the show with no compensation?  Ehhhhhh, intellectual property is really wibbly wobbly.  I think it will encourage authors to  use critical thinking with their plot points, ala ‘do I want to use this mode of plot twist here, or do I want to save it for my original things?’  It may also have the opposite effect though, to the tune of ‘I get paid either way.  So I will put my best writing forward.’  Which is an awesome attitude to have.

Finally, my hope is that it gives those authors who pour heart and soul into fanfiction (Looking at you, Cassandra Claire)  and have thousands of readers, to get recognition and pay for their entertainment without having to resort to shady publishing practices (see: Twilight Vs. 50 Shades of Grey)

What do you think of this?  My jaw is kind of on the floor about this.