Thoughts On OTW and Fanfic
Over the past few days, I’ve been surfing around the ‘net, reading up on several posts and discussions regarding the OTW, the Organization for Tranformative Works. For those who don’t know, OTW is the fan initiative that resulted from the appearance of Fanlib on the fannish scene, and LJ’s Strikethrough debacle earlier this year. They’ve been quietly working under the radar to get things started, and are now slowly seeking the spotlights.
Naturally, in today’s interconnected world, that didn’t go unnoticed for very long…
There is a very long (over 500 comments last I checked) discussion going on in John Scalzi’s blog here. Surprisingly, most of it has been polite and unwanky, even though many of the arguments are the same ol’ same ol’ that anyone who’s been in fandom for more than a few months has seen time and again. Still, it was interesting.
Over in LJ, many people have voiced their thoughts as well. Metafandom has a good collection of posts from various points on the spectrum.
Then Lee Goldberg discovered OTW… and we can all imagine how that went. Fandom Wank’s having a field day.
Anyway, reading across the various threads and thoughts and points of view, I did some thinking myself as well. After all, I’ve been reading and writing fanfic since 1999, so I do have some stake in this (not to mention that I wrote fanfic in my head during my teenage years, except I didn’t know that’s what it was called…).
So, OTW, good or bad for fandom? Frankly, I’m still on the fence. I’m not entirely sure about the way they stress fandom as a female domain (not that I think the facts are wrong: fandom is largely comprised of women. But to be honest, I don’t really see what it’s got to do with any of their other endeavors).
An archive of our own, not answerable to stockholders and advertiser’s norms? Hell yeah!
Setting up a fan-friendly community space for discussion, rec’ing etc? Absolutely in favor.
A fanwiki and aca journal about fandom? I’m neutral, don’t care particularly much either way, but if that’s what people enjoy, go right ahead.
Do I think working toward legitimacy for fanfic is a good idea, or will it bring down the PTB’s on our heads to stamp us all into oblivion? That’s the big one, isn’t it?
Many of those not in fandom are already sharpening their knifes. Because, after all, legitimacy equals selling fic equals loss of money in their pockets. Best refute for that comes from elfwreck (I think it was…) who mentioned that sex is legal, but you can’t sell it either. Not to mention that 99% of fanficcers has no interest in selling their stuff for money whatsoever. A difference in attitude that cupidsbow has some very interesting things to say about.
But that’s mostly little-known writers who have, in fact, very little to fear from us. Most of us don’t write in ‘just book’-verses, but are playing around in t.v.-show or movie-sandboxes.
Way I see it, so far we don’t know how much or how little fanfic is infringing on copyrights. All we have are a lot of varying opinions but not a single legal judgment. Which means any lawsuit about fanfic could go either way. However, what the PTBs should realize, if they really want to go down that road some day, is that trying to stop people from fanficcing is like trying to stop them from thinking. So the only thing they might conceivably stop, is the posting in publicly available archives. Anything else they can try, but I suspect it’s more trouble than it’s worth. Because where to draw the line next? At the story I make up in my head? The one I tell a friend over the phone? The one I discuss over IM? The one I e-mail a few friends? E-mail a lot of friends? How much is “a lot of”?
Less than 10 years ago, when I first discovered I had a muse, fanfic was largely shared over e-mail lists that you had to join up for first. And if you look at fanfic’s history, before the internet, there were ‘zines.
Aside from the practical problems someone holding a court decision in their favor might face… how far does that decision stretch? If a US court decides that Jane Ficcer from New York infringed on someone’s copyright when she wrote posted her fanfic on an archive hosted in the US… is that relevant for me? I don’t live in the US, am not a US citizen, and my fic is not hosted (at least not only) in the US either. Are the PTB’s willing to go after all fanficcers in all the world? I seriously doubt it.
So, no, I’m not too worried about that aspect of OTW. In fact, I think it’s very interesting. Because any lawsuit could also go fandom’s way. It certainly beats Fanlib’s attitude of “we’ll make the money, but if you get sued, your on your own”.
Frankly, I think the only people that might have a real reason to worry about the emergence of fanfic are tie-in writers and -publishers. They might actually lose money to fanfic. Or better said: not earn any money, because fans prefer not to spend it on their tie-in novels. Because, let’s be honest, how often have you read a tie-in that could hold a candle to the fanfic (*)?
Which, of course, brings us back to the reasons for the rabid ranting of one Lee Goldberg…
So, all in all, I had an entertaining week scouring the internet. I think the OTW is a very fascinating development in fandom, that could be very beneficial in the long run. I’m impressed with the way they try to handle things and applaud what they’re trying to do. But I’m not entirely convinced it won’t simply crash and burn from attempting to take on too much. Is it at all possible to unite all of fandom??
We live in interesting times…
(*) I’m obviously not talking about ff.net here…
Originally published at blog.scribblesinink.com. You can comment here or there.