file off the serial numbers

Etymology
From the practice of filing the serial numbers off of firearms in order to make their origin and ownership difficult to trace.

Verb

 * 1)  To remove the copyrighted elements from an existing work of fan fiction so that it may be commercially published as original fiction.

Usage notes
This term is exclusively used to describe removing proprietary elements from fan fiction based on copyrighted source works (e.g. changing character and planet names in a  fanfic). The term can also be applied to the commercial republication of fan fiction based on source works in the public domain, such as ', ', or .