Commercial Works Authors

  • Links Roundup for 17 August 2011

    By .allison morris on Wednesday, 17 August 2011 - 6:23pm
    Message type:
    News of Note
    Tags:
    Takedowns, Commercial Works Authors, Fanfiction , Fannish Histories, Fannish Practices

    Here's a roundup of stories about literary and creative fandom that might be of interest to fans:

    • A first-person write-up of a woman's entry into online fandom and fan fiction writing was published in The Cultural Gutter this past month, and likely echoes the experience of many a fan, particularly those who take part in fan activities around LiveJournal and Dreamwidth.
    • An interesting discussion took place earlier this year on Language Log about the Tolkien estate's effort to censor use of the word "Tolkien", highlighting the problems fans may run into when creating fandom-related works. The fanartist on Zazzle who received the cease and desist order in the cited case countered the attack creatively, adding new items to their store which commented on the censorship effort.
    • Many discussions about copyright and trademark infringement revolve around the issue of intellectual theft. However, some professional artists are of the opinion that "theft" can never be left out of the creative process. In a post about his own creative history, artist and writer Austin Kleon suggests that the "genealogy of ideas" is a complex thing and will always reveal ties to other ideas and works — that's an idea close to the heart of fannish creativity, and we appreciate seeing it proclaimed from the professional side of the fence.

    If you have experienced events such as the case of the Tolkien fan discussed above, why not post them on Fanlore? These conflicts are a part of our history — help preserve it. Fanlore is open to contributions by all fans for any and all fandoms.

    We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about you can submit it in three easy ways: comment on the most recent Links Roundup on transformativeworks.org, LJ or DW, or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

    This update was contributed by OTW Staff member Claudia Rebaza.

    Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

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  • Links Roundup for November 24, 2010

    By .fcoppa on Wednesday, 24 November 2010 - 4:42pm
    Message type:
    News of Note
    Tags:
    Commercial Works Authors, Fanfiction , Remix

    * Board member Rebecca Tushnet has posted notes from a presentation she gave on vidding at Notre Dame's Creativity and the Law Symposium, Scary Monsters: Hybrids, Mashups, and Other Illegitimate Children.

    * TWC editor Kristina Busse has posted Affective Aesthetics to the Symposium Blog, a piece that argues that fan works are still discriminated against because they engage the emotions as well as the critical facility.

    * The New York Times is soliciting Harry Potter fanfic from students; What Would Your Favorite Literary Characters Be Like If Their Stories Never Ended?

    * Moby has founded Moby Gratis, a site which makes music available for free to makers of independent, student, and non-profit films or videos.

    * Dan Pankraz's Generation C: The Connected Collective Consumer sounds an awful lot like fandom.

    We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about you can submit it in three easy ways: comment on the most recent Link Roundup on LJ, IJ or DW, tag a link with "for:otw_news" on Delicious or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

    Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

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  • Naomi Novik Interviewed for io9

    By .fcoppa on Saturday, 11 September 2010 - 4:17pm
    Message type:
    Media Mentions
    Tags:
    Commercial Works Authors, Fanfiction

    OTW Board Chair Naomi Novik was interviewed by Annalee Newitz for io9 at ComicCon: in the featured video, Naomi explains why fanfic is important (and why fans should use the Archive of Our Own!): Naomi Novik says fanfic is part of literary history - and reveals what's next for Temeraire.

    Edited to add:: Transcript in comments, courtesy of Tree.

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  • Rumblefish Proposes (Highly Restrictive) Song Licensing System

    By .fcoppa on Thursday, 1 July 2010 - 4:43am
    Message type:
    News of Note
    Tags:
    Business Models, Commercial Works Authors, YouTube, Remix

    The New York Times reports that a company called Rumblefish is partnering with YouTube to license songs to amateur video artists for use in noncommercial videos at $1.99 each. At the moment, they do not represent any major labels, though they are hoping to expand (don't hold your breath, given the difficulties the major labels have had with most new business models).

    While this idea certainly has the potential to be beneficial for vidders and other remix artists, and the price is comparable to a ringtone or higher-quality download, this isn't the solution: the license Rumblefish and YouTube are offering doesn't allow users to remix, mash up, speed up, slow down, alter or translate lyrics or do lots of other things that vidders and other remix artists routinely do; all you can do is cut the length of the song. Also, you are only permitted to stream your video, and only at authorized sites like YouTube; you can't offer your vid for download, or stream from your own site. Moreover, the licence stipulates that your use:

    must not be pornographic, promote hate or violence, must not be libelous, defamatory, fraudulent, infringing or otherwise illegal, and must not involve criticism of Friendly Music, Rumblefish, UGC Network, or any of their products or services.

    And of course they get to decide what is okay and what isn't. (Doesn't that make you want to make an anti-Rumblefish political remix right now?)

    While this service might be useful for makers of home movies and amateur films who just want to add a soundtrack to their child's birthday party or high school graduation, transformative works like vids, anime music videos, and political remix videos are not using music as a soundtrack. In these transformative works, the music is a crucial part of the message, and the message is a form of speech.

    This seems like an attempt by Rumblefish and YouTube to charge noncommercial video makers for fewer rights than they already have. In fact, it's interesting that Rumblefish and YouTube are trying to create a market to license songs to amateur video makers just as laws like Canada's Copyright Modernization Act are proposing the legalization of noncommercial remix - but only if it doesn't aversely affect "an existing or potential market." Minimalist licenses for some songs, no matter how affordable, can't substitute for fair use.

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  • Professional Authors and Fanworks

    By .fcoppa on Friday, 21 May 2010 - 3:02pm
    Message type:
    Spotlight
    Tags:
    Commercial Works Authors, Fanfiction

    In recent weeks, partly prompted by Diana Gabaldon’s publication of her fan fiction policy, some other professional authors have been moved to declare their positions (pro, con, or in between) on fanworks. The OTW has also been contacted by some professional authors who like fan fiction, but worry if it poses a danger to them in some way.

    For the record, the OTW believes that noncommercial fan works are an important form of cultural conversation and don't require the approval of the original work's author or owner. While fair use is a key component of our intellectual property system, it's also important to talk about other aspects of the law that may assuage some fears.

    Q: I'm a professional creator. Do I need to avoid reading or acknowledging fanworks based on my own works?"

    Answer Under The Cut!

    A: This is essentially a personal decision. If it will upset you to read, view, or watch fanworks based on your works, then don't.

    Authors are sometimes advised to avoid reading or acknowledging fanfiction transforming their own work, as it is in theory possible that an author could read a story, go on to write something similar, and face a claim by the fan that she copied the fan's work. There are many reasons to discount this risk, the least of which is that case law is all in the first author's favor: no court is going to be receptive to a claim that a later work by the first author in the same universe infringes the fanwork. Among other things, when people begin with similar premises, it isn't at all surprising that they will end up with similar ideas--but copyright law protects the specific expression of an idea, not ideas. Even if a fan work is similar to a later work in the same universe, similarity of ideas (say, how wand magic works in Harry Potter) isn't sufficient for a copyright claim.

    However, not being able to win doesn't erase the possibility that someone could threaten to sue. The real issue is that it doesn't take a fanwork to generate a threat! If an author reads her fan mail or online reviews, she might encounter a fan's ideas about what should happen with the characters; if she reads other books, she might encounter a storyline or character similar to a storyline or character she might later use. In fact, the typical author-versus-author infringement case involves claims that one work copied another, apparently unrelated work.

    The OTW's mission includes explaining the difference between ideas and expression. A lot of people may have the same idea about what should happen on the next season of House; but if they each write different stories expressing the idea differently, then those stories don't infringe each other.

    In short: a professional creator is no more at risk (and arguably, a lot less at risk) of being sued by a fanfiction writer than of being sued by any other author who’s ever written anything. J.K. Rowling, for example, has been sued by English children’s writer Adrian Jacobs (author of The Adventures of Willy the Wizard); American author Nancy Stouffer (who claimed that Harry Potter was a ripoff of her character “Larry Potter”), and the band the Wyrd Sisters--none of whom are fans.

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  • Naomi Novik Interviewed at Tor.com

    By .fcoppa on Tuesday, 27 April 2010 - 4:30pm
    Message type:
    Media Mentions
    Tags:
    Commercial Works Authors, Fanfiction

    OTW Board Chair Naomi Novik was interviewed for "The Geek's Guide to the Galaxy" podcast at Tor.com. Her interview, Episode 17: Dragons! Fan Fiction! Copyright Law! has been released. The page also provides a handy-dandy cheat sheet to topics covered within the podcast: Naomi talks about the OTW, about "the myth of originality", problems with copyright law, and other topics starting at 28:22: of course, fans of a certain dragon may want to listen to the whole thing. :)

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  • Concerning Fanfiction

    By .fcoppa on Wednesday, 21 October 2009 - 3:58pm
    Message type:
    News of Note
    Tags:
    Commercial Works Authors, Fanfiction

    Mercedes Lackey has announced the following on her blog:

    News: Concerning Fanfiction:

    As you folks already know, my agent, Russel Galen, has in the past been opposed to fanfiction. However, he is also Cory Doctorow's agent now, and Cory is a persuasive little gnome.

    As a result of this, I am happy to announce that we are officially permitting fanfiction to be licensed as derivative fiction under the Creative Commons umbrella...

    Thanks, Cory, for helping Mercedes and her agent recognize that fans' reaction to works can (and already do!) legitimately include creative responses. We don't think we need her permission, but we're always happy to have her blessing--and as fans of hers, we're happy that she's happy! :)

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