OTW Sightings

OTW Fannews: OTW and the Press

•The Kindle Worlds story didn’t just result in hundreds of media outlets running pieces on the story, but also quite a few requests to the OTW for comment. While some have been previously linked to and some have yet to be published, several more have made an appearance. The Verge talked with OTW Communications staffer Nistasha Perez about the Amazon’s new move as well as similar efforts to commercialize fanfiction in the past. “In 2007, former Yahoo executive Chris Williams decided it was time to make money off fan fiction. ‘I work for a brand-new fan fiction website called FanLib.com and my colleagues and I want it to be the ultimate place for talented writers like you,’ read an email sent to hundreds of authors.” But “[a]fter barely over a year, FanLib’s infrastructure was bought by Disney, and the fan fiction archive was quietly shut down. Six years later, media powerhouse Amazon is giving the idea another try.”

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OTW Fannews: Kindle Worlds edition

Amazon's announcement earlier this month that it would be launching Kindle Worlds as a way to capitalize on fanfic writers didn't just get a lot of attention among fans and online discussion sites it also launched dozens of related articles ranging from tech publications, business publications, publishing sites, entertainment sites, journalism sites, fan-oriented media and mass-market media, in the U.S. and internationally, as well as individual responses by authors. We thought we'd take a look at some of the issues raised in this coverage and what the media was focusing on.

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OTW Fannews: The places fanfiction goes

NYU's student newspaper decided to feature fanfiction with a particularly local angle -- fanfiction set on its campus. "Remember when you were waiting for your acceptance letter? Whether NYU was your dream school or just your safety, you’d catch yourself longing for the city, dreaming of the day when you’d leave your home for the magic of New York...You weren’t the only one dreaming. In fact, some would-be students have dedicated hundreds of pages to their NYU-centric fantasies. So focused are these writers’ efforts that NYU Fanfiction has swelled into its own thriving—if slightly inaccurate—genre."

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Archive of Our Own among TIME's '50 Best Websites 2013'

The Organization for Transformative Works was pleased to learn that one of our projects, the Archive of Our Own, has been named among the '50 Best Websites 2013' by TIME magazine staff. We are excited to be included in this list and in the company of a number of other great websites.

We would like to extend a thank you to OTW members whose generosity has helped to support the continued development of the AO3 and to AO3 users who provide the content that helps make it one of the 'Best Websites'. We look forward to continuing to build the AO3 to make it even better in the years to come.

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OTW Fannews: Fair Use and the Modern Fan

On the Media aired an episode on the Past, Present and Future of Ownership, which included a number of good stories, including discussion of the art piece 'DRM Chair' "that collapses after just eight uses." Host Brooke Gladstone concluded with an observation on the origins of the word 'property.' "Eight hundred years ago or so, property’s meaning was pretty much related to the essential nature of something, as in it’s the property of water to conform to the shape of the vessel it’s in. The fact is property didn’t come to mean possession until the 17th century...Now our world runs on property...Once we dwelled in a brick-and-mortar world. Now, as poet Kenneth Goldsmith observed, we swim in a digital ocean. The only certainty is that in such a fluid situation, 20 years hence, property will not mean what it means today." (Transcripts available)

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OTW Fannews: Do it yourself edition

TechDirt discussed the new site DMCAInjury.com, which was set up to keep track of bogus DMCA takedown requests. Those who file such claims could face punishment for those actions under section 512(f) of the DMCAbut so far it's happened rarely and with difficulty. Keeping track of accidental or malicious takedown requests might spur more cases against those filing them, or "at the very least, perhaps it will create a useful dataset to explore the nature and frequency of bogus DMCA takedowns."

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OTW Fannews: Living with fanfiction

  • An article from the Oakland Tribune provided a good exploration of fanfiction and the activities of people who write it. "The online communities -- fandoms -- are vast and develop their own guidelines, techniques and even vocabularies. People write about, talk about, have mini conventions about, make videos about and even edit each other's stories about everything from favorite novels, TV shows and comic books to Japanese anime and mangas, poems, video games or popular songs...'It's really big, it's really diverse, and if you've only seen one little slice of it, you haven't seen anything.'" The piece also featured discussion with OTW Legal Chair Betsy Rosenblatt, and mentions OTW projects the AO3 and Fanlore.
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The BBC Focuses on Fanfiction

BBC Radio 4 will be broadcasting a 28 minute documentary on fanfiction and its writers on Monday, 26 November 2012 at 1600 UTC. It will be available online starting the first week of December.

In the documentary, novelist Naomi Alderman looks at internet fan fiction and its influence on popular culture by talking with both fanfic writers and professional authors. The documentary will also show how fanfic gives a voice to female fans. OTW Board member Francesca Coppa is one of the guests, as well as China Mieville, Henry Jenkins, and Ika Willis.

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