Posts by Retired Personnel
Update to OTW Signal, May 2023
A few days ago we ran an article with an excerpt from an interview with a member of our Legal Committee. That article featured the opinion of one of our 900+ volunteers. It does not represent an official position on the part of the OTW or its Board of Directors. We sincerely apologize for the hurt and confusion we have caused, and we have removed the excerpt. As fan work creators and users of AO3 ourselves, we understand our users’ concerns around this issue and are taking these very seriously.
Results of the 2022 Board Election
The Elections Committee would like to thank all of our candidates for their hard work in this year’s election. With that, we are pleased to present the results of the 2022 Election. The following candidates (in alphabetical order) have been officially elected to the Board of Directors: Heather McGuire Natalia Gruber As previously advised, the Board of Directors is sorry to announce that director E. Anna Szegedi, elected in 2021, stepped down from her position on the Board prior to the 2022 election. We are grateful for E. Anna Szegedi’s service and thank her for her work and dedication. To fill the vacant seat, the… Read more
A Statement on Malicious Email Attacks Against OTW Volunteers
Since May 3rd, the Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) — the nonprofit behind AO3, Fanlore, and other projects — has been dealing with malicious attacks aimed at the organization and its volunteers. We wanted to share with you some of what’s been happening, as well as what we’re doing to contain it, and how it may affect our response times to your inquiries and our workload in general. Above all, we need to ask for your patience, because these are complicated times for all of us at the OTW. An unknown attacker has been sending our volunteers threatening emails with illegal child sexual abuse material… Read more
2022 Election Timeline and Membership Deadline
The OTW Elections committee is pleased to announce that the timeline for the 2022 election for new members of the Board of Directors has been posted! This year’s election will be held August 12-15. This means that the deadline for volunteers to declare their candidacy is June 17. As usual, the election membership deadline is June 30. If you’re interested in voting, please make sure your membership is active as of that date. Please note that your donation receipt will be dated in US Eastern Time, so if your donation is listed after 19:59 on June 30, 2022 on the receipt, you won’t be eligible… Read more
Three U.S. Legal Issues To Watch
OTW Legal is tracking and participating in three current developments in U.S. law that could affect fans: (1) Fan-unfriendly proposals to change trademark law; (2) Attacks on LGBTQ+ expression online; and (3) Proposals to mandate technological copyright filtering on the Internet. We will keep advocating for fans in these areas, and in some cases, there are things you can do if you’re in the U.S.! If you want to know more, read on. (1) Fan-Unfriendly Proposals to Change Trademark Law The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill with the misleading name of “SHOP SAFE” that would place barriers and restrictions on online marketplaces,… Read more