-
OTW Fannews: Changing how things are done
Labels: News of Note, Intellectual Property, Movies, Fanfiction , Fannish Practices
PBS's Idea Channel did a piece on "The Future of Fandom" and featured discussion about fans' effects on copyright, including the stance of the OTW and the work of OTW legal staffer, Rebecca Tushnet. "In 'I'm a Lawyer, Not an Ethnographer, Jim': Textual Poachers and Fair Use, Rebecca Tushnet explains Henry Jenkins' sense that 'fans usually enjoy [an original work], but also see its flaws and gaps, which their work attempts to address and, sometimes, redress.' Fan works like Fanfic, fanvids and remixes celebrate, critique and extend beloved media, but they also exist in uncertain legal territory. They're necessarily built on copyrighted material, the owners of which are occasionally super hostile to any co-option, even loving co-option." (Transcript available)
- Log in to post comments
-
OTW 2013 Annual Report now available
Labels: Report, OTW Sections
We are pleased to announce that the OTW has published its 2013 Annual Report (in PDF or in HTML). The report provides a summary of our activities during the past financial and calendar year, our financial statements for 2013, and our goals for 2014. This is the seventh annual report of the OTW (see previous reports).
- 4 reacties
- Log in to post comments
-
OTW Fannews: Fans running the culture
Labels: News of Note, Race, Ethnicity, and Nationality, Fan Conventions, Fanfiction , Fannish Communities, Television
Arthur Chu wrote at the Daily Beast about Battlestar Galactica as the turning point for fanfiction invading popular culture. "[T]echnological change has accelerated to the point where nerdy and obsessive and living inside your own personal fantasy world you seek to realize is not only no longer the liability it once was, it’s practically a requirement for the new economy. Try getting a job at a 'disruptive' Web 2.0 start-up and saying that your favorite entertainment is reassuring sitcoms about ordinary domestic life. The creepy kid who was once ostracized for drawing weird futuristic cityscapes populated by cyborgs all day is now your boss, and his utopian/dystopian vision for the future just got him a million-dollar round of investor capital."
-
OTW Fannews: Fandom and food
Labels: News of Note, Movies, Fannish Communities, Television, Fannish Practices
Singapore Showbiz wrote about the rise of TV-themed dinners surrounding fandoms with a strong focus on food. "Passionate fans have even taken it upon themselves to create a Game of Thrones' cookbook...with recipes for the dishes described in the series." The group featured has "plans for more TV- themed dinners, with plans for 'The Hunger Games', 'Downton Abbey', and 'Hannibal' dinners in the works."
- 2 reacties
- Log in to post comments
-
USPTO/NTIA multi-stakeholder forum on the DMCA
Labels: Spotlight, Intellectual Property, Legal Advocacy
OTW's Legal Committee made another appearance at a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office event, this one at a multistakeholder forum in Berkeley, California on May 8. Legal Chair Betsy Rosenblatt spoke about protecting transformative creators, whose voices might easily be lost or ignored in a discussion focusing on anti-piracy. Stating that small entities have unique concerns regarding standard processes, especially when they are volunteer-run such as the OTW, Betsy also mentioned the importance of pseudonymity. Her segment begins at 5:12 in the Part 2 video. (No transcript available). Other participants included copyright stalwarts like the RIAA, MPAA, and Copyright Alliance; internet freedom and free expression advocates like the EFF and New Media Rights; and content hosts ranging in size from Google on the large side to DeviantART on the small side.
-
OTW Fannews: Tech and legal developments
Labels: News of Note, Intellectual Property, Fannish Communities, OTW Sightings, Technology
The New York Times Bits blog was one of several places highlighting the work of OTW legal staffer Casey Fiesler, who examined Terms of Service at popular websites. Among them was DeviantArt, Fanfiction.net and "Asianfanfics, a small fan fiction site, whose terms of service provisions, the researchers wrote, allowed 'for the site to essentially do whatever they like with whatever is posted there without any notice or attribution to the creator.'" The report included a handy infographic. A future part of Casey's study will involve the AO3.
- Log in to post comments
-
OTW Fannews: The importance of fangirls
Labels: Gender and Sexuality, News of Note, Comics, Gaming, Commercial Works Authors, Fanfiction , Music, Fannish Histories
Game designer Jane Jensen took issue with the idea of female role models in a Gamasutra post, suggesting that writing hot men is a worthy pursuit. "Reason #1: Female gamers will love you for it. There are, in fact, a large portion of women who play games. According to the ESA, 45% of all gamers are female. This varies greatly by genre, I’m sure. But if women do tend to play the type of game you design for, then why not give them a male character they can salivate over? Because…Reason #2: Male gamers are okay with it...Reason #3: Pop culture says it works."
- Log in to post comments
-
Volunteer to help the OTW inform fans!
Labels: Communications Committee, Volunteering, Translation Committee, Volunteers & Recruiting
Applications are now open for the following exciting volunteering opportunities:
- Communications Staffer: Chair Track Staffer - closing 26 May 2014 UTC
- Translation Committee Staff Member - closing 26 May 2014 UTC
We have included more information on each role below. Open roles and applications will always be available at the volunteering page. If you don't see a role that fits with your skills and interests now, keep an eye on the listings. We plan to put up new applications every few weeks, and we will also publicize new roles as they become available.
All applications generate a confirmation page and an auto-reply to your e-mail address. We encourage you to read the confirmation page and to whitelist volunteers -(at)- transformativeworks -(dot)- org in your e-mail client. If you do not receive the auto-reply within 24 hours, please check your spam filters and then contact us.
If you have questions regarding volunteering for the OTW, check out our Volunteering FAQ.
- Log in to post comments
-
Yuletide Archive Move Complete!
Labels: Announcement, Open Doors, Open Doors Committee
Open Doors is proud to finally welcome the Yuletide Archive for 2003-2008 to the Archive of Our Own!
In this post:
- Background explanation
- How will I be notified about my work being imported?
- How do I claim my works?
- I have already added my work to the AO3
- I used the Import feature or contacted Open Doors before the import, but my work imported again anyway
- What about tags, comments and gift notifications?
- I don't want my work on the AO3
- I have other questions
- Log in to post comments
-
OTW Fannews: Authentic fandom
Labels: News of Note, Movies, Music, Sports, Television, Fannish Practices
An article in Connecticut College’s The College Voice insisted that there's no room for art that isn't "original", complaining about the success of cover bands. "Wicked Peach is certainly an example of this. One sophomore said her adoration for the band was because 'they play songs I like without trying to make it their own.' The Cover Band is Pop without the music. Wicked Peach is not music; it’s entertainment. They haven’t contributed a single original note to the universe, but they can certainly get 200 hundred drunk ’90s kids into a mosh pit. In their defense, at least they’re upfront about their unoriginality. With the majority of Pop music consisting of the same four chords, most contemporary music is essentially just slight variations on what’s come before."
- Log in to post comments
