Here's a roundup of stories on copyright matters that might be of interest to fans:

• Two media outlets presented a very different picture of the new "anti-piracy" venture, Creative America. A feature in the Hollywood Reporter stuck to the basics, suggesting international theft threatens American jobs: "Creative America is meant to provide a place where members of the industry and creative community can learn more about the impact of the theft of intellectual property on their jobs and industry. It is also designed to help rally support for passage of legislation now before Congress to fight content theft, especially the Protect IP Act, which combats foreign trafficking in stolen movies TV shows and other forms of intellectual property." A post at TechDirt questions an industry org being termed "a grassroots effort" and notes it requires members to contact representatives in Congress only on the org's terms. ""Creative America" apparently does not trust its own members to be creative. The letter is 100% locked down. You can only send their text. Honestly, if a group supposedly representing creators won't even let its own members express themselves freely, you know that it's not actually about protecting "creative" America. "
• Of course, copyright ownership is often an unclear picture. A study conducted in the UK paints a troubling picture of copyright clarity when it comes to written works published in the last 140 years. Using titles published between 1870 and 2010, researchers discovered that only 29% were out of copyright and 43% of the works were "orphans", having no clear copyright owner. The 1980s produced the highest percentage of orphans, 50% of the total. This suggests that a great many relatively recent works will exist in an unclear state of ownership, particularly if the treatment of orphan works differs internationally.
• What falls under copyright continues to be a contested issue as well. A post on Freakonomics asked if you can copyright a football play. The conclusion focused on a motivation rarely seen in copyright discussions which center on money: professional pride. "In the NFL, innovations can pay even if they provide an advantage over only a few games (although for reasons we’ve explained, copying a football coach’s innovation effectively is often more difficult than it may at first appear)...That gleaming, buffed Lombardi trophy prize drives innovation in football more surely than any rule of intellectual property."

If you're interested in copyright issues or have something to say about legal analysis or file sharing, 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.

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

• This Magazine featured professional book fans Book Madam & Associates who "spread their appreciation through blogs, tweets, and occasional podcasts, events, DJ playlists, and online comics clumsily drawn in Microsoft Paint" from various Canadian cities. The group is focused not only on the interests of readers but on increasing the success of books in the marketplace. "A new returns policy instituted by Indigo Books & Music will soon see Canada’s largest retail book chain sending books back to publishers 45 days after they’ve been ordered, slicing in half the long-standing 90-day returns term. That means some books will have only a month and a half to make an impact on readers."
• While Book Madam is trying to promote the medium of books, some fans are banding together to promote artists directly. This has usually been done collectively, but in one case, a fan was the sole sponsor of a musical tour: "A physician by trade, Tanaka loves independent, underground music from Japan, not something Toronto tends to have in abundance." Rather than continue to go to Japan to enjoy his favorite bands, Tanaka decided to bring them to Canada. Speaking of his $30,000 in losses, Tanaka pointed out “I could buy a car, but I already have a car. What’s that going to do for me? These are memories of a lifetime.”
• Taking a contrary view, a blogger at Game Informer asks "How Much Should the Gamer Influence the Game?" After pointing out how fans flesh out the characters and storylines in a game, Oni no Tenshi adds "Bottom line here is that the fans of a series often dictate certain things, which result in the change of gameplay options, story arcs, and even characters themselves. Sometimes it's even more insidious-it's based on "market research" or "test audiences" that basically curtail or squash creativity in gaming stories and ideas simply because games are first and foremost a commercial endeavor and not purely available as artistic and creative outlets."

If you're part of a gaming, music, or book fandom, why not contribute your perspectives to Fanlore? Contributions 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 about enduring fandom that might be of interest to fans:

• Last week, US NPR radio show Fresh Air rebroadcast its interview with author Allison Pearson about her novel I Think I Love You, in which she fictionalizes her experience as a Partridge Family fan in 1970s England. She discusses both her own life and the novel, noting, "We carry our younger selves with us our whole lives, and we can measure out [our] lives somewhat by music we've loved or icons we've loved."
• Liz Danforth, an editor, writer, game scenario designer, and game developer discussed her turn into fan fiction, which she believes has resulted in some of her best work. "I felt the itch to write the first fiction I had even attempted in almost a decade, but I was shamefaced at the prospect of writing fanfic. I was a pro! Fanfic was for amateurs!...To my shock, I found I was still a writer after all. I had stories to tell. I had a character I adored, living in a world that I was passionate about. If there is nothing else WoW ever gave me, it gave me back a part of myself I truly believed lost. And I will be grateful forever."
• For those who express their fannishness without the written word, a new site, Star Wars Remix, launched this month seeking contributions from those who see their fandom in everyday objects, from thumbtacks to burgers.

If you're part of music, gaming, or Star Wars fandom, why not contribute your experiences to Fanlore? Contributions 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 are a few action alerts that might be of interest to fans:

• Many fans have used bookmarking sites such as del.icio.us to keep track of fan works they want to read, have viewed, or want to return to. Many more fans have also used one another's lists to find new material. However, this functionality and fannish history may soon be lost once Delicious completes its transfer to new ownership. Fans wanting to save their bookmarks for their own use and that of others have until September 23 to authorize migration of their data to the new website or transfer it to another service.
• Last week two authors attempting to publish a novel with a diverse representation of characters encountered a specific response from an agent suggesting that there is no market for gay characters in young adult (YA) literature. Their response was to ask that readers make their voices heard about what they want to see published. YA author Malinda Lo posted a follow-up providing statistics on how much YA literature contains queer representations and who is doing the publishing.

If you use bookmarking sites as part of your fannish habits or are part of YA literature fandoms, why not contribute your experiences to Fanlore? Contributions 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.