Comments | cupidsbow: Valuing the Work in Fanwork

cupidsbow

Valuing the Work in Fanwork

Dec 15, 2007 22:42

I've been meaning to post about the Organization for Transformative Works for a while now, and given that the website launched this week and has generated a lot of discussion, today seems like a good day.

OTW launch
If you haven't been following the launch, you can find the latest news at otw_news, specifically: Website and mission updates, December 2007 ( Read more... )

discussion, fandom, otw, essay

Comments 45

cathexys December 15 2007, 16:38:14 UTC

What a wonderful post! Thank you!

therealjae December 15 2007, 16:47:36 UTC

This is glorious. It takes some things I was already thinking about and runs away with them. Thank you!

-J

kheha December 15 2007, 16:54:10 UTC

Interesting. I'd actually never seen underlying thought path in the fanfic = plagiarism argument, where they are the same thing because they "have no value imbued by the ostensible author but only reflected value from the source". That explains where the connection between the two is coming from much more clearly; I've long ago accepted the connection between the two and even seen them as similar in my own mind, but you just identified the missing piece in articulating that connection.

thecert December 18 2007, 01:33:52 UTC

Here via metafandomOne thing that bothers me in the fanfic = plagiarism equation is this: Copyright infringement and plagiarism are NOT the same thing. Plagiarism means passing off someone else's words or ideas as your own, regardless of the copyright status of the original work. You can, in other words, plagiarize Chaucer just as surely as you can plagiarize Anne Rice. The vast, vast majority of fanfic writers aren't plagiarizing: they don't claim to have created the universe or the characters; they do claim their own plots, characters, or embellishmentas as their own ( ... )

ionaonie December 15 2007, 17:27:33 UTC

The whole OTW thing past me by, so I'm so very happy to be able to use your post to navigate around and see what is going on.

And despite not having read anything, I'm still going to agree with one of your points, mostly because it is something I've been trying to vocalise for ages (and failing) - the fact that so many people outside the fannish community don't understand fanfic (or other fanworks) because it doesn't really have any monetary value and that seems to be something so many people can't get their heads around.

Once I've read around more (and have an idea of what is going on) I'm sure I'll be back with many opinions *G*

llaras December 15 2007, 20:31:00 UTC

Great post.