Who We Are
The Legal committee is responsible for carrying out the OTW’s legal advocacy mission and providing internal legal support and guidance to the OTW as an organization. We advise committees about potential legal issues, answer legal-related questions from fans, and create educational materials.
First and foremost, we help address both internal and external legal concerns. We work with every committee in the OTW, but most often collaborate with Board, Development and Membership, Elections, Finance, Open Doors, AO3 Policy & Abuse, and AO3 Support. For example, committees may ask us to review the Terms of Service of a new tool, help them navigate changing our bylaws or Elections procedures, or look into reports of impersonators using the OTW or AO3 logos. We’re also happy to provide input on legal-related issues touching that committee’s purview.
Outside of our internal responsibilities, we respond to questions from fans who are concerned about legislation in their area, and answer questions about the law as it relates to fanworks. While we can’t give legal advice, we strive to give people relevant legal information. To help with this, we also work closely with Communications to publish news posts about upcoming legislation that may affect fans. We care deeply about fandom, fans, and Internet or copyright policy, and we proactively monitor laws that could affect these things. If you know of a new law that might affect fans or fannish activities in your country, send us a message! We may even highlight it in a future news post.
Internal Structure
Legal is led by one to two chairs, who oversee a team of several members and sometimes interns. Committee members are required to have legal experience and a law degree. Interns tend to be law students working toward their degrees. Internships are a temporary position on the Legal Committee, during which the student participates in committee’s work and is supervised by other committee members.
Our committee’s work is highly collaborative, and, among committee members, everyone on Legal is equally responsible for carrying out day-to-day tasks. These include drafting replies to internal and external questions, participating in committee-wide discussions, and researching relevant legal issues.
Legal Advocacy and Outreach
To help the OTW carry out its mission of protecting fans and fanworks, we conduct Legal Advocacy for both individual fans and fandom at large. We do not represent individual clients, but we can provide information to individuals when their fanworks are challenged and help them find legal representation. We also monitor legislation proactively, both in the US and everywhere around the world.
We voice our concerns about how laws may negatively impact fans and file amicus briefs or exemption requests in order to protect the rights of all fans. For example, we’ve consistently filed for DMCA exemptions for those who make noncommercial remixes, otherwise known as fanvidders. You can also check out a full list of our policy comments and letters. We file briefs in lawsuits and advise lawmakers about how to take fans’ needs and interests into account in creating and interpreting the law.
Contact Us
If you want to learn more about the Legal committee and our work, are interested in volunteering with us, or if you have any other questions, please contact us—we will be happy to hear from you.