Posts in Activism
Help OTW Advocate for Fan-Friendly Law In Hong Kong
Right now, Hong Kong is in the process of reviewing and proposing changes to its copyright law, and has put out a public call for consultation. OTW Legal will be submitting a comment in response to this request, recommending that Hong Kong’s copyright law be made more flexible to allow more freedom for fans to create and share fanworks. Here’s where you come in! As we’ve done in many countries, including Canada, Australia, the U.S., South Africa, and New Zealand, we’d like our Hong Kong submission to include first-hand accounts from Hongkongers about the benefits of laws that promote the creation and sharing of transformative… Read more
U.S. Copyright News, OTW Legal, and You
Since we began in 2007, the Organization for Transformative Works’ core mission has included working to promote fan-friendly copyright law. For years, we’ve submitted testimony and comments to governments, filed briefs in court, and helped mobilize fans to have their voices heard by lawmakers around the world. Recently, one of our big legal advocacy projects has been testifying and submitting comments to the U.S. Senate about the way U.S. Copyright works online under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Today, U.S. Senator Thom Tillis has released proposed legislation that would be bad for the AO3 and bad for fans. OTW Legal will fight for fans… Read more
This Week in Fandom, Volume 149
Hello and welcome to This Week in Fandom, the OTW’s roundup of things that are happening. This week and last, events in fandom have largely centred on the Black Lives Matter movement and the protests and demonstrations taking place within America and around the world against racial injustice and police brutality. Racism and particularly anti-Black racism is a problem in fandoms and in fan studies as in other cultural spaces, so in the latter part of this roundup we wanted to share with you some of the links and resources that we’ve come across over the past week or so which provide ways to think… Read more
This Week in Fandom, Volume 77
Welcome to This Week in Fandom, the OTW’s roundup of things which are happening! Before we start, The Shape of Water just won four categories at the Academy Awards, including the award for Best Picture—the first sci-fi/fantasy film to do so since 2004. Tell us your reaction in the comments! The Anchorage Museum in Alaska is currently running a fandom-themed exhibit. “The Art of Fandom,” according to a press release by the museum, “explores the things people like in our mass and global culture through collectables, contemporary art and design, fan art, and fandom sub-culture.” The release goes on to list examples of the wide… Read more
Are You Concerned About Net Neutrality?
In recent weeks, OTW Legal has gotten some questions about net neutrality in the United States. Net neutrality is the principle that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) should treat all data on the Internet the same way, without discriminating or charging differently by user, content, website, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or method of communication. There’s been some recent activity surrounding net neutrality regulations that fans may want to know about. Last week, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a proposal that would severely reduce net neutrality requirements in the United States. The FCC is currently in charge of regulating broadband internet access services… Read more