A side path on that road is people who change the name of a character, maybe the setting the character came from, and get published with one of these online "publishing" companies.

I knew a girl who used to write fanfiction from the movie Pitch Black, writing the character of Riddick. Then she took the story down and suddenly she had an e-book published - changed the character's name and suddenly it was a work of "original fiction".

When I politely asked how she'd gotten permission to write what was essentially the character of Riddick (her character was physically the same, right down to the eyes that had been changed in the underground jail system) with the same sidekick from the movie (a girl who dressed like a boy), I was huffily informed that "Riddick isn't the only character in the world with a shaved head!"

Uh....okay then.

You can buy the rip-off on Amazon.com right now and she will tell anyone who listens that she's a published author now.

That should scare you to death!

I understand why authors would not like it, I truly do. However, and I know this is a very weak argument, it has been a long time waiting for a Dance With Dragons and I could see myself passing the time by reading some fan-fiction about the characters a long as they didn't try to continue the story for Mr. Martin. I hope this doesn't offend and I hope you understand where I'm coming from. Anyone would be hard pressed to write as well as you and anything they write would most likely fall far short of what you are capable of.

I don't think you can do anything about it. Fnafiction will pop up. There is fanfiction about television shows, books and movies.