OTW

Welcome to our first newsletter of the 2010 term! We've re-formed our committees and completed our first month of goals. Read all about it beneath the cut!

* Fanlore has hit 10,000 articles!!! We're not 100 percent sure, but we think the 10,000th article was on fan Virginia Lee Smith. For Valentine's Day, consider adding someone or something you love to Fanlore!

* Author, 17, Says It's 'Mixing,' Not Plagiarism: A young German novelist has published a bestselling novel called Axolotl Roadkill which cites--or as the author says, remixes--chunks of various other published works without attribution. While some have called this plagiarism, others see the quotations as thematic, and the accusations have not stopped the book from being nominated for a major prize.

* NPR did a story about World's Fair Use Day called When Fair Use Isn't Fair: the story features interviews with Jonathan McIntosh, Public Knowledge president Gigi Sohn, and others.

* Last but not least, friend of the OTW Nina Paley, the animator who made Sita Sings The Blues, has been making "minute memes" for QuestionCopyright.org. Her latest work is called All Creative Work Is Derivative; that link will take you to a description of her process in making this video.

A few events that might be of interest to readers of this blog:

* Göttingen, Germany. REMAKE │REMODEL: New Perspectives on Remakes, Film Adaptations, and Fan Productions: is an interdisciplinary conference taking place June 30 - July 2, 2010. The deadline for submissions is February 15, 2010; more information can be found on the linked call for papers.

* Boston, MA (and elsewhere!) On February 25, 2010, Lawrence Lessig will deliver a talk on fair use and politics in online video at the Berkman Center at Harvard Law School. The Open Video Alliance is webcasting the talk at http://openvideoalliance.org/lessig, or you can attend local screenings and events in many cities (check online for more details.)

* Los Angeles, CA, On March 25, 2010, Jonathan McIntosh, Julie Levin Russo (Stanford) and Alexis Lothian (USC) will curate an exhibition called "Subverting Gender and Sexuality with Remix Video" at California State University, Northridge that will feature PRVs (political remix videos) as well as vids. A question and answer session will follow the presentation.

The OTW has formally been on haitus for much of this month as we reconstitute ourselves for the 2010 term. But of course, "on haitus" doesn't mean "shut down"--some of us can't leave (OH HAI POOR SYSADMINS), some of us don't leave (the Board and VolCom have to put the org back together again!), and some of us really should take a well deserved break but can't help but add a bit--more--code--!! (You know who you are.)

In our next newsletter, you'll meet the new committees and hear about what they've got planned for 2010. But for now: a few words from your favorite workaholics...

It's worth reading OK GO's open letter to the people of the world in which they discuss their record label's refusal to make their new YouTube videos embeddable - despite the fact that the immense popularity of OK GO's viral YouTube videos is what made the band rich and famous in the first place. OK GO apparently argued with EMI and lost, but they clearly think their label is being penny wise and pound foolish: the penny per play on YouTube may not be worth the loss of spreadability. To counter this, the band has also put their video up on Vimeo, which does (for the moment) still allow embedding, though they're aware this will split their hit count. But: "With or without this embedding problem, we'll never get 50 zillion views on a YouTube video again. That moment – the dawn of internet video – is gone. The internet isn’t as anarchic as it was then. Now there are Madison Avenue firms that specialize in "viral marketing” and the success of our videos is now taught in business school." (Meanwhile, its worth saying that the band are clearly geniuses when it comes to spreadability: their new song and video feature the Notre Dame Marching Band. The sound you hear is that of a million high school and college marching bands tuning up: there's more than one way to get your song out there!)



OK Go - This Too Shall Pass (vimeo.com)

In other news, you can watch yours truly give a talk called Things We Don't Have In The Future...and How Fan Arts Can Help to the freshmen class at the University of the Arts, which is doing a shared First Year Experience called ReMix, ReWrite, ReAct. I served as tour guide to some fantastic fan art and vids: if anyone needs to be thinking about remixing and read-write culture, it's the artists of the future!

Public Knowledge sponsored the first annual World's Fair Use Day on Jan 12, 2009. You can see podcasts and read recaps of the events on World's Fair Use Day site, and OTW Board member Rebecca Tushnet blogged many of the panels: see her detailed notes on day one and day two.

Welcome to our last newsletter of 2009: committee updates below the cut! We'll be back, better than ever, in 2010, so catch you on the flip side!

It's drawing in toward the end of the year, and we're all looking forward to doing end-of year things: breaking out the suntan lotion (Southern Hemisphere), breaking through the snow (Northern Hemisphere), breaking into shrieks of glee and/or terror (Yuletiders), and breaking bread with loved ones (holiday celebrants). But one thing you may have forgotten about is that the next few weeks are your last chance to qualify for tax deductions in 2009 (United States). If you've been thinking about donating to the OTW but haven't done so yet, you may want to take a look at your finances and see whether it would be to your benefit to do so before December 31. And if you're employed, please find out if your employer offers matching donations! Every dollar you give could be worth two dollars to the org. You can learn more about how to get your donation matched by your employer on the support the OTW page (scroll down to where it says, "If your employer offers matching donations, you may be able to double your gift!")

Of course, we're glad of donations of money or help at any time -- especially as we celebrate the open beta of the Archive of Our Own, now with more than 25,000 stories in almost 3,100 fandoms! If you'd like an AOOO account, you can add yourself to the invitation queue; a friend who already has an account may also be able to give you an invitation. And if you'd like to give of your time and effort as well as, or instead of, your money, please see our Willing to Serve post for descriptions of how you can help with the OTW's various projects.

And meanwhile, enjoy the sun, or the snow, or the shrieking -- and in any case, enjoy the stories!

Remember -- we're offering two premiums for your donation over US$50. Celebrate the OTW and get something for yourself this season!

Welcome to our October, 2009 newsletter. Get news from all your favorite committees about all your favorite OTW projects...right beneath the cut!