Here's a roundup of stories on the stifling of fan production that might be of interest to fans:

• In "A ‘Trek’ Script Is Grounded in Cyberspace," The New York Times discusses the case of well known sci-fi writer Norman Spinrad's unproduced 1967 script for Star Trek being resurrected by the fan-produced Web series, “Star Trek New Voyages: Phase II.” Unfortunately CBS, the current rights-holder to Trek, barred the script from being produced, and is currently negotiating with Spinrad to sell licensed copies of the script. The article's author nicely sums up the core conflict for fans: "At issue is the extent to which fans can participate in a franchise that has yielded more than $4 billion in merchandising as well as 11 feature-length movies that have grossed some $1.5 billion."
• However, toymakers can apparently be more difficult to deal with than movie studios. In a rather bizarre case, an Australian hobbyist blogger was apparently tricked by an offer of free merch from Hasbro employees into giving up his street address, which the blogger believes the Hasbro legal team then used to send him a cease and desist about photos on his site of an unreleased Nerf gun, insisting that he reveal the photos' source. Though the blogger refused to give up his source and informed the Hasbro lawyer that said photos were easily accessible via a targeted Web search, Hasbro followed up with concerns about his access to other unreleased products, and then allegedly sent a private investigator or lawyer to confront him about the photos and products. Hasbro has also upset Transformers fans with their decision to restrict fan art being sold at BotCon 2012. As one fan commented, "It sounds to me like Botcon is eating itself. What was a fan con became a company convention and is now a corporate presentation that we are graciously allowed to pay to attend."
• For fans who have never profited from their fan works, the Transformers case may seem out-of-touch, but it isn't always rights-holders crushing fan spirits. A story that celebrates fan art, "Fan Fiction Meets Graphic Design in the Groovy Online Subculture of 'Alternative Movie Posters'" nonetheless distinguishes between alternative movie posters, "unimaginative commercial posters," and "the creepy/sad DIY fan art thriving on the Internet" of the Mary Sue variety.
• At least some artists not only recognize the value of remixing works, but also welcome what it says about their art. In this video, Gwen Seemel notes that not all art gets copied, and that which does is more likely to endure. What's more, no copy copies exactly, and copying isn't predictive of her own future work. (No transcript available).

If you are a Star Trek or Transformers fan or a creator of fan art, why not write about it in Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, 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!

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.

Here's a roundup of stories on creator and fan interaction that might be of interest to fans:

• Star Trek is certainly one of the original geek canons, and in an interview with StarTrek.com, actress Denise Crosby discussed why she made several documentaries about its fans. "[S]ome people didn’t really get what this was all about," she said. "They were kind of mystified by it all. I’d come back from a convention and friends of mine, who’d never seen an episode of Star Trek, would say, ‘What? They have conventions? People ask you questions? They dress up? What?’ I thought it was a phenomenon that had lasted all of this time, that was unique to this franchise. I thought, ‘Something is going on here. Why is that? Why this show? Why aren’t people having Cheers conventions?'"
• A look at Community fandom would argue that Cheers wasn't the right type of comedy show. "The rabid Community fans differ slightly from the equally-enthusiastic fans of other sitcoms like, say, The Office or the coveted Arrested Development, in that there’s a level of detailed scrutiny, day-to-day obsessiveness and familial pride in being a Community fan that’s reminiscent of the type of fandom more commonly found attached to mythology-inclined genre shows like Supernatural and LOST, not half-hour comedies." This may be because the show "chooses to reward a perceptive and diligent audience with episode-to-episode continuity that builds into an arc and pays off...elaborate and consistent inside jokes" culminating in its "ability to understand the type of situations and relationships that geeks are interested in, which makes it truly For-Us-By-Us, rather than reducing 'us' into easily quantifiable caricatures...that blatantly pander rather than be informed by the culture."
• Comedian Steve Martin spoke to NPR about his new book, which was drawn from his interactions with fans on Twitter. "You know, I like the idea that one thing leads to another. You can tweet something completely innocuous, and then find yourself going off on a tangent that's inspired by a response...When people started responding, I found they were really writing well." He concludes "I've always believed that there are funny people everywhere, but they're just not comedians."

If you are a Trek fan, Community fan, a Lost fan, a Supernatural fan or are fannish on Twitter, why not write about it in Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, 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!

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.

Here's a roundup of stories on gaming and cons that might be of interest to fans:

• The gaming site Massively recently posted an opinion piece on the "One True Way crowd". "They're fans who insist that one particular incarnation was the right way to go and everything afterward has been a poor imitation. The camp exists with MMOs, as well, and just as with any other franchise, it's arguably the most harmful portion of the fanbase" because it stifles innovation. The writer suggests that because One True Way fans expect new games to simply be 'better' versions of their old favorites, they are refusing to let the natural evolution of gaming design take its course, and are "asking for a return to a time that never existed, for the genre to essentially feed upon its past and just produce the same thing eternally--to watch talent and creativity slowly wither and die, with fans slowly breaking away as they come to realize that the past doesn't hold all of the answers."
• Innovation is alive and well in gaming fandom, however. As this Reno News & Review article on video game orchestras notes "the music of video games is often overlooked, especially in a gaming era in where stunning graphics and unique stories take the stage. But a good score can make or break a game." Fannish music takes many forms such as "Nerdcore—originally dubbed Nintendocore—[which] is any style of music in which the scores from games are covered by musicians, or the musicians create original music inspired by aspects of the game. Chiptune and bitpop refer to music actually made with old school gaming consoles. And there’s the off-shoot subgenres, such as wrock (short for wizard rock, based off Harry Potter) or slackercore (which, true to its name, is hard to define, but is seeped in hacker culture)."
• Indeed, the "Music of Games" is one of several accompanying panels to the Smithsonian's "The Art of Video Games" exhibit which opened this month and will travel to a few U.S. cities in 2012. "The Art of Video Games is one of the first exhibitions to explore the forty-year evolution of video games as an artistic medium. [. . .] It features some of the most influential artists and designers during five eras of game technology, from early pioneers to contemporary designers." The games featured were decided in part by public vote. "The 240 games on the ballot were selected by Chris Melissinos, who worked with the museum and an advisory group consisting of game developers, designers, industry pioneers, and journalists. [. . .] Voting took place between February 14 and April 17, 2011. More than 3.7 million votes were cast by 119,000 people in 175 countries!"
• The Smithsonian GameFest, which took place on its exhibit's opening weekend, was a not-for-profit venture, but Exhibition News pointed out how very profitable fan conventions can be. "MCM Expo Group (MCM), owner of six of the UK's most successful consumer exhibitions, a portfolio of pop culture shows led by the 27,000sqm London MCM Expo at Excel" is the part of the market that is "one of the few to emerge from the recession relatively unscathed." Like Comic Con, its events evolved. "[W]e started to target video games and manga (Japanese fantasy and sci-fi cartoons and animation). The knock-on effect is that we began seeing a transition of brand away from straightforward comics and movies and our audience became much bigger."

Regardless of what video game fandom you're in, why not write about it in Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, 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!

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.

Here's a roundup of stories on commodification of fandom that might be of interest to fans:

• The TV series Chuck's demise was covered by various media outlets but NPR focused on the fandom. "Chuck's life and death speaks in surprisingly potent ways to how television is changing" writes Linda Holmes. "More than anything, Chuck is a story about the rise of the fan. Not only because the show has organized devotees — that's not new." Rather it was that "Chuck fans, in their businesslike enthusiasm, sold themselves as a product."
• A review of the recent novel Convent says that while it "skewers just about every aspect of organized fandom and the publishing industry (sometimes literally) there’s rarely any meanness in it, more like family poking fun at a favorite — if slightly strange — uncle. ConVent is just great fun, a laugh riot from beginning to end and largely drawn from real-life experiences at cons." There is also a sequel planned.
• An article about a controversial YouTube user focused on how the DMCA is being utilized, not just by entertainment entities attempting to control use of their products, but also the "growing use of copyright claims as a cudgel against enemies and rivals." The misuse of the law can also hurt artists. "Last September, one person falsely claimed copyright over music videos by Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga. It took hours for the videos to be restored. And that was an unusually fast response. It can normally take days or weeks for YouTube to restore a video —- and that’s if the person who posted it responds with a counterclaim against the original DMCA request. Nearly 8,000 YouTubers have signed a petition calling on Google to reform how it handles DMCA notices.""
• By contrast, Portals is a music blog collective of sixteen bloggers raising money through Kickstarter to help artists. They describe the site as ""a daily destination for MP3s, videos, mixes, interviews, artist's writings, and cultural commentary -- curated for quality, and with an emphasis on emerging artists and musical movements that best exemplify the new grassroots, Internet-fueled DIY."" But one of the writers "balked at the idea of wielding "influence" over a readership" explaining "I'm not trying to become more influential. I guess the goal of expanding who we're reaching is something, but I don't want anyone to listen to something because I said so. I just want to let as many people know it exists as I can. I want these bands I think are amazing to at least have the chance to be heard. I just don't think influence is the right word.""

If you are a fan of Chuck, are a music fan, use YouTube, or attend cons why not contribute to Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, 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!

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.