why OTW!

[astolat]

Over in otw_news, the Community Relations team of OTW is running a Why I Joined/Support OTW week, and here is my contribution. :D While I'm posting, I will also take this opportunity to pimp the latest recruiting posts up in otw_news -- volunteer to be a Ruby Coder or an XHTML/CSS Coder! It will be fun! ♥

Comments

[ninasis]

Every time I jump into a new fandom, the first thing I do is hit up the major rec lists. And usually a good percentage of the links in those lists are dead. LJ's that have been deleted, websites that are no longer around, archives that have closed. A lot of the other links are to locked posts, unaccessible unless I want to beg to be friended.

Right now I'm obsessed with Queer as Folk. This fandom is only a few years old, and yet a LARGE number of archives/personal sites/LJ's are no longer around. This has been the most frustrating fandom to try and find anything in, out of almost a dozen that I've jumped into now.

A central archive is a wonderful idea to me. I haven't been following much of the OTW discussions, but I don't see how it's a bad thing at all. Just the thought of being able to go to ONE place, find what I'm looking for, and - even more importantly - know that I can link to what I find and come back a month, a year, from now and the link will still be there. That's priceless to me!

[astolat]

Every time I jump into a new fandom, the first thing I do is hit up the major rec lists. And usually a good percentage of the links in those lists are dead.

Yes! This happens to me all the time. I am always jumping into old or dead fandoms and there is nothing working anymore. :'(

[cybel]

I've loved you forever for your stories; if possible, I love you even more for this. It should be mandatory reading for all fans, most of whom don't have a clue why OTW is important, why they should care, what it could mean to them.

[astolat]

♥

But seriously, think about coming to code with us!

[anonymous]

So, when is the Organisation for Transformative Works going to be opened up to fans off Livejournal? Either by enabling comments on the news communities on IJ, GJ, and JF, or (better) by moving to an open community like a blog where anyone can join in discussions

Re: But seriously, think about coming to code with us!

[astolat]

http://www.transformativeworks.org/getinvolved/... )

Re: But seriously, think about coming to code with us!

[astolat]

Also I should add, we don't actually *work* on LJ. That is, internal org work is all being done via Basecamp and Campfire, which are part of the awesome 37signals.com suite of online project management tools.

[the_dove_prince]

May I ask some sincere questions? I am in no way trying to antagonize you or OTW, but there's a few key concepts I'm not grasping about this endeavor, and I really honestly want to know more

[astolat]

Not at all snarky, but I am away from home working and cannot type long as this would demand. Instead let me point you at otw_news where the recent anti-fanfic bingo posts (albeit snarkily *g*) have produced a ton of answers to these and many other questions, produced by the community and not just by OTW.

Re OTW specifically, we are definitely NOT trying to suggest all creative work should be public domain. We just believe that noncommercial fanfiction falls under the existing fair use exemption in US copyright law, and we want to help convince people that (a) that is the case, and (b) that's not a scary/bad thing. Our focus is on protecting noncommercial exchange of transformative fan works.

Part 1, Take Two: Freedom of Speech

[the_dove_prince]

If it is a totally noncommercial venture, I suppose it becomes an issue of freedom of speech, then.

I would hate for someone to take my children's book characters and use them for fics that seriously promote neo nazi ideals(the way some creators probably hate that their characters are used in homoerotica or BDSM fics or whatever they may find "squicky"--but please note that I am NOT equating nazi ideals to the other things I mentioned--I myself am a huge fan of slash and kink fic--I'm just saying, to some creators, any of the above may be repulsive to them and seem like a violation of their work or original intent.) However, unless I could prove that the neo nazi fics were cutting into my sales or damaging my own book somehow, as long as the fics were on the net and not making a profit, it would be hard to find reasons to justify silencing those fan writers. Much like the cooking recipe argument that kassrachel made here.I just want to make sure fandom is on the side of the angels. I don't want us to come off like thieves, who steal

Part 2: Plus, Anthropoligical Benefits?

[the_dove_prince]

I feel very strongly, as a fan and an academic, that having a non-profit fanbased archive is nothing short of an essential anthropological endeavor. Just like the folklorists who went to the Appalachian Mountains and spent years collecting stories, songs, and art work that were rapidly disappearing, the OTW having a self-governed and protected archive of fan works would be invaluable to the future--it practically provides the cladograms for the evolution of literature in pop culture. Fan fics are unique because they thrive on the collective experience. Rather than continually write original properties where everyone must start at square one, exploring that world from the ground up, if I wrote a John/Rodney fic, most fans know what they look like, what their speech patterns are, what their history is, where things in their world are located, and how they operate. Therefore, I can concentrate on the emotional arc of the story. (Or whatever my goal is.) And share it with thousands of people who enjoy what I do. That's an amazing and

[logovo1]

I know I'm going to benefit from this project and wish I had the skills to help in the coding. As is I can only pitch in financially later on when the 501c3 is set up.

Thank you for the commitment you've made towards this project.