Organisatie voor Transformatieve Werken, Juridisch, Financiën, Ons Eigen Archief (Archive of Our Own), Open Doors, Lidmaatschap, Transformative Works and Cultures (Wetenschappelijk Tijdschrift)

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

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 they copied the fan's work. There are many reasons to discount this risk, the least of which is that U.S. 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 U.S. 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 fan mail or online reviews, they might encounter a fan's ideas about what should happen with the characters; if they read other books, they might encounter a storyline or character similar to a storyline or character they 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.

I run an archive I'd like to import/back up to the Archive of Our Own. What do I need to do?

Contact Open Doors for access to the archive importer. Please let us know from the outset if you have special needs — for example, if you'd like us to take over maintenance of the old domain, or if your archive contains multimedia content.

How can I stay up-to-date with the progress of the Archive?

We're posting regular Archive updates on the OTW blog, answering frequently asked questions and keeping users informed about how the Archive is progressing. The blog is mirrored on Livejournal, Dreamwidth, Insanejournal, and YahooGroups, and posts are linked on Twitter.

We are now also posting on the Archive itself and a link to the most recent post will appear in 'Updates' on the Archive front page.

How can I get an account on the Archive?

The Archive of Our Own entered open beta in November 2009. To create an account, you need an invitation. We're using the invitation code system so that the Archive can grow in a controlled manner. We need to add new users gradually so that our account numbers don't grow beyond what our hardware, bandwidth, help and support can cope with. This helps us ensure that everyone using the Archive gets the best possible experience. Once you receive an invitation email, click the link provided in the email to go to the account creation page. If you've been provided with an invitation link by another user, clicking this link should take you to the right place.

Hebben de mensen die OTW leiden banden met fandom?

We zijn allemaal eerst en vooral fans, en daarom willen wij onze vrije tijd aan de organisatie besteden.

Wie kunnen gebruik maken van de diensten van OTW en wie zijn welkom om vrijwilligerswerk te doen?

We verwelkomen iedereen die over bronnen (shows, bands, sporters, anime, enz.) en fandom wil discussiëren; we verwelkomen iedereen die fanfictie, vids, fankunst, en andere vormen van transformatief werk maakt of ervan geniet.

Hoe kan ik lid van een commissie worden?

We zijn altijd op zoek naar commissieleden! Commissies worden per jaar benoemd, met af en toe tussentijdse vervangingen als dat nodig is. De voorzitters hebben over het algemeen een vrije hand in de benoeming van hun commissieleden, en deze zullen uiteraard het eerst worden gezocht onder hen die zich bij de commissie als vrijwilliger hebben gemeld, of andere (fangerelateerde of werkelijke-wereld) relevante ervaring hebben. Als je lid wilt worden van een bepaalde commissie, laat dit dan weten aan de vrijwilligerscommissie.

Hoe zijn de commissies samengesteld?

Het bestuur bepaalt welke commissies moeten worden ingesteld, benoemt de voorzitters en hecht zijn goedkeuring aan de leden van de commissie die de voorzitters hebben gekozen. De eerste leden van de commissies werden gekozen uit de mensen die reageerden op de eerste openbare "Willing to Serve" oproep voor vrijwilligers.

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