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Fans have always known that they can do amazing things, working together. An individual fan may have creativity and talent, but we have so much more power as a group. But traditional fan strategies like letter-writing campaigns, taking out ads, and sending creative messages to The Powers That Be don't always work nowadays. We still need to band together, but sometimes we also need some specialized help.

This past year, the OTW's Legal Advocacy project worked to defend our rights to fair use in various ways, big and small. A lot of this work is out of the spotlight -- helping individual fans who might otherwise be intimidated into silence, or stopped from doing the things fans love to do. But most of OTW's advocacy work is visible, and is about amplifying our voice -- about helping us be seen and heard when people in power are making or considering decisions that affect us and our work as fans.

In 2009, the OTW helped Glockgal formulate and direct a counternotice against Viacom following an unfair takedown of her Zazzle store ; we explained the creative work of vidders and other remix artists at DMCA Anticircumvention hearings before the US Library of Congress; we participated in filing an amicus brief to support the position that a really restrictive court decision defining transformativeness as parody and nothing else should be reversed on appeal.

Support for the OTW is support for fans' right to be fans. To think and discuss critically. To transform, reflect, react, create, and reshape the world around us. To participate and take part in the culture around us. We can't lose that. We have to stand our ground. It's ours.

It's that time! Time for a new drive premium!

The OTW, as you may know, is committed to keeping our donors hydrated. Well, maybe not committed, as such, but not standing in anyone's way. And definitely interested in offering donors at levels of US$100 and above a swanky bottle to fill with their beverage of choice. This time, it's a 24 oz. capacity stainless steel water bottle, in a lovely white finish, bedecked with the OTW logo in an ever-stylish and striking red. It's kind of ridiculously sexy, too, with an easy to grip shape and well-fitted screw-on cap. If you find that sort of thing sexy, that is. We won't judge you!

We're still offering a packet of OTW stickers and iron-ons, both useful for transforming your non-OTW related possessions, at a donation level of US$50, and you can opt to get everything -- stickers, iron-ons, and water bottle -- for any donation at or above US$120. We ship donation premiums all over the world. In fact, our premiums-shipping volunteer has been known to particularly enjoy sending packages internationally. We don't judge her, either.

In other news of useful things that you may want to make grabby hands at, we would like to direct your attention to the search bar plugin that resourceful Archive of Our Own user Punk has created! You can now search the AO3 on the whimsy of the moment, going directly to your search results. If you are using Firefox or Internet Explorer 8, you can download the plugin from this page on mozdev.org -- just click the link that says "Archive of Our Own" and answer yes when prompted by the dialogue box. Punk has also pointed out that there's a Fanlore version created by Loren Leah that can be downloaded from mozdev.org as well!

This is the post where we explain everything that is amazing, inspiring, and necessary about the Archive of Our Own.

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No, there is too much. Let me sum up: An open source project, designed by fans, for fans! Noncommercial and nonprofit, supported by an organization -- the OTW, you may have heard of them -- ready to advocate for the fanfiction and other fanworks housed there! An archive designed from the start to accommodate the needs of fandom, designed for accessibility, for diversity, and for growth and flexibility! Collections, challenges, user-determined privacy settings, comments, bookmarks, tags! Icons coming literally any moment now! Open beta! Yuletide!

This is an inspiring, galvanizing project. It's a dream we're making real, making it ourselves, together. Teaching each other skills, learning together, boosting one another up to the next level as we go. The AO3 project runs on the sheer determination and boundless energy of volunteers: coding, testing, tag wrangling! Another shoulder at the wheel is always welcome -- you don't need any qualifications other than a desire to learn and to help! Drop a line to the Volunteers Committee to join us.

The AO3 doesn't just run on fannish energy. It also runs on servers. Which we now own! \o/ And which we pay to maintain, to power, to house. We also need to plan for expansion and growth: more users, more fanworks, more kinds of fanworks. Donate and keep the AO3 humming along, while we keep making it better, faster, stronger.

Open Doors is about heartbreak.

No, really. Bear with me for a minute. Remember that first 'zine you picked up at a con, the first fansite you discovered, the first archive you gained access to. The first time you thought, "Hey. This speaks to me; these people are like me."

It's an important moment: that revelation that there exists a community of fans, a culture that we create -- the revelation of what we are and what we become when we are doing what we love.

Does that 'zine still exist? That fansite? That fanwork that defied expectation and dared you to do the same, that archive that defined a moment in your fannish life, that resource you used to build a world -- are they still there? Or have they been washed away by moves and deaths and apathy, by belt-tightening and corrupted files and lack of spoons?

It's one thing if we make these decisions ourselves. It's another entirely to not have a choice, and to watch our work -- our words and art and resources, our collaborations and experiments and conversations, the proofs of our existence as communities -- be erased.

Open Doors is about creating a refuge for those works, about helping fans who want to preserve those 'zines and collections and con programs and archives and resources. Those moments of fannish epiphany. It's about keeping our hearts unbroken.

Supporting the OTW means support for Open Doors, and Open Doors, in turn, supports fandom. Donate, and keep the decisions in the hands of the fans. Help us help to preserve endangered fanworks. Help fight the battle to keep your heart safe.

March at the OTW is an exciting month -- we're far enough in to 2010 that we've had time to evaluate our goals and examine our tasks with a fresh eye. We're excited about what we've done so far as an organization and in service of fandom, and we're exhilarated by the possibilities that are just around the corner.

So now, from 9-15 March, we are calling on you to donate. Any amount above US$10 will extend your membership to one year from the most recent donation -- that means if you donate today, you're a member until a year from today. Membership is a way to take part in the work and to accomplish our aims, and anything more you can give helps make our dreams a reality -- our fanworks hosted on servers controlled by fans, on software created for fans, and using fan-created policies. The donations made last March allowed us to buy those servers! \o/ It's an amazing accomplishment, and one we intend to make ever stronger and more sustainable. And we can't do it without you -- your suggestions, energy, hard work, and financial support.

While our members support us, we also want to be clear that we are the sum of our parts -- we are you. The OTW isn't just member-supported; our members are the OTW. We, as fans, want the OTW to reflect our diversity, our globalism, our many voices. Please join us, and bring your friends. Bring the fannish world.

<a href="http://transformativeworks.org/how-you-can-help/support"><img src="http://transformativeworks.org/sites/default/files/memdrive_0.png" alt="9-15 March 2010 OTW Membership Drive" /></a>

Feel free to repost this graphic by copying the text below the image and pasting it into your journal or website.
We know we didn't get a chance to represent everyone, so we invite you to contribute "membership" in your language if it's missing!

We've been accomplishing so much more than we can list for you in a single post! In fact, we'll be posting every day during the drive to spotlight our projects and mission, and to tell you more about why you should help us to sustain our work. The Archive Of Our Own is flourishing in open beta! Transformative Works and Cultures is about to release a much-anticipated issue focusing on Supernatural! Fanlore, where we are recording our history, our (sometimes not-so) common language, our tropes, and our inventions! The zine collections of the Fan Culture Preservation Project! The rescued fansites that make up the Geocities Rescue Project! Advocacy for Vidders and remix artists!

During this drive, we’re also continuing to offer the option of premiums for donations: at a level of US$50 or more you can choose to receive an OTW sticker & iron-on pack, to proudly display your support; at a level of US$100 or more, we're changing things up a little! For the first two days of the March drive (or while they last), we'll continue to offer the OTW insulated travel mug -- beginning 11 March (or as soon as we're out of mugs) we'll roll out an eco-friendly OTW stainless steel water bottle; at US$120, you can opt for either the mug or the bottle (whichever is currently active) along with a sticker & iron-on pack!

All the latest news on the Archive of Our Own behind the cut! Mirrored from an original post on the Archive of Our Own.

Welcome to our first newsletter of the 2010 term! We've re-formed our committees and completed our first month of goals. Read all about it beneath the cut!

* Fanlore has hit 10,000 articles!!! We're not 100 percent sure, but we think the 10,000th article was on fan Virginia Lee Smith. For Valentine's Day, consider adding someone or something you love to Fanlore!

* Author, 17, Says It's 'Mixing,' Not Plagiarism: A young German novelist has published a bestselling novel called Axolotl Roadkill which cites--or as the author says, remixes--chunks of various other published works without attribution. While some have called this plagiarism, others see the quotations as thematic, and the accusations have not stopped the book from being nominated for a major prize.

* NPR did a story about World's Fair Use Day called When Fair Use Isn't Fair: the story features interviews with Jonathan McIntosh, Public Knowledge president Gigi Sohn, and others.

* Last but not least, friend of the OTW Nina Paley, the animator who made Sita Sings The Blues, has been making "minute memes" for QuestionCopyright.org. Her latest work is called All Creative Work Is Derivative; that link will take you to a description of her process in making this video.