1 Shakespeare: {sitting at a table in the bar, with a drink} Thanks for getting me to drop that Nigerian Finance Ministry freelance job scam thing, Ophelia.
1 Ophelia: No problem, Will. {takes a sip of her own drink}
2 Shakespeare: Now I can get back to more important things. Things that will have a better chance of making money for me.
3 Ophelia: That's good to hear. So have you got any ideas for the productivity meeting?
4 Shakespeare: Oh, I meant writing my Harry Potter fan-fic.

Looking at this now, I realise I should have put a few other people into the background of the bar.

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2013-08-30 Rerun commentary: Apparently you can make money by writing fan fiction, by entering Amazon's recently announced and opened Kindle Worlds initiative. The idea is that authors who own a creative property license fan-fic authors to write stories within those worlds, which they are then allowed to sell for money. Both the fan-fic writer and the original owner of the creative property get a cut of the profits.

However, the selection of established creators licensing their worlds is so far quite small and... not exactly full of big names (although Kurt Vonnegut is there). So far no Harry Potter or Star Trek or Lord of the Rings. Also, the concept has attracted a lot of... mixed response from fan-fic writers and media commentators. Mostly on the issue that Amazon seems to be grabbing the copyrights of submitted works, and the ethos that fan-fic should be shared freely between fans.

It seems big companies will find a way to make money out of anything we come up with.