Amazon plans to start selling fan-written fiction based on the works of other authors and franchise creators, according to a press release sent out on Wednesday. Kindle Worlds will be a platform heavily regulated by Amazon itself and will only sell fan-fiction for which it has the rights-holders' explicit permission to do so.

Fan fiction has long existed at a murky copyright cross-section, where even fanfic-like works that have the strongest case for originality seem to anger rights-holders (see: The Wind Done Gone, a spinoff of Gone With the Wind that was targeted for copyright violation). There do exist cases where fan-fiction is legal, such as when it is sufficiently transformative or a parody. Even so, those arguments do little to settle the temper of authors who feel their creations are being tread upon.

Amazon plans to circumvent this issue by having a cadre of “World Licensors,” rights-holders who effectively give permission to Amazon and other writers to create and profit from fanfic. The launch list of licensors includes those of Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, and Vampire Diaries.

Amazon must review and accept fanfic works for publication, but once it does, profits from the $0.99-$3.99 price range are split three ways: a 35 percent standard cut to the writer and an unspecified split of royalties to the licensor and Amazon itself. Things like slashfic and crossovers are not permitted under Amazon’s guidelines.