Not a big fanfiction fan but I'm with you and would go as far as saying "death of the author" is a good thing - just not as it's typically used, as a rationalization of leftist cultural subversion. It's not so much that there shouldn't be respect for the overall canon or integrity of a story, but that at the end of the day it's us fans who decide what to accept as canon.

If some weirdo writes a Kirk and Spock gay slash fanfic, most of us pay it no mind and it's forgotten. If someone produces a really good Star Trek spinoff series, we can accept that into the lore and include it in future stories. It shouldn't matter if Paramount suits approved the series or not. We decide.