Why I Joined OTW
MetaFandom: Please do not link to this post.
So, this week has been designated 'Why I Joined OTW' week at otw_news. I haven't really talked much about my involvement with OTW in this journal, partly because this whole venture is still very much in the planning/organizational stages, but mostly because I'd rather leave the community relations to... well, Community Relations. I wasn't even sure I was going to post anything this week until I saw Kassie's post earlier, and it got my brain working.
To be clear: this is only my opinion. It does not reflect nor does it represent the official position of OTW. If you disagree with me, that's fine! I have no problem with people disagreeing with me (unless we're talking about the utter joy that is Joe Flanigan's face) -- however, in this particular instance, I am not interested in hosting a debate. I get that not everyone will be with me on this, and that some of you may strongly oppose it. I'm not trying to convert anyone or engage in a lengthy discussion about the relative merits or drawbacks of the project here; there are plenty of other places for those conversations, if that's what you're looking for. This is simply my two cents, in case anyone is interested, and comments will be disabled.
I have seen concern in various places that OTW may be drawing attention to or 'outing' fan fiction in a way that some fans don't like/aren't comfortable with/aren't ready for, but I believe that the way things have been progressing, it is inevitable. An intense focus on the internet -- and those vast heaps money to be made here -- has been building, and I have no doubt that ventures like FanLib are merely the first step in a series efforts to profit from or make popular and mainstream our fannish endeavors.
The combination of increased press coverage (which certainly existed prior to and independent of any influence by OTW) and the easy flow of information on the web means that fandom's days of being a mysterious, secret subculture, lurking in the periphery, are rapidly coming to a close, and it's is only a matter of time before the first much-dreaded court action takes place, and some fans, somewhere, will be called upon to defend themselves.
People may feel uneasy with OTW attempting to speak for 'all of fandom' -- a notion that I feel sure OTW would distance themselves from; I don't think anyone in fandom believes that anyone could properly represent all of us -- but the only other option is letting people outside of fandom define us and speak for us. And I'm doubt the outside world would be nearly so kind, nor would they be any less likely to paint all of fandom with one giant brush.
To my mind, the creation of OTW can result in one of a few possible outcomes:
A.
We take proactive steps to protect ourselves & our fannish community as a whole.
B.
We do nothing, and believe/hope everything will be fine.
1.
Fan fiction is determined by the courts to be legal.
Worst-Case Scenario:
We have built what will hopefully be a useful resource, with not only a fan-run archive for fan fiction, but an additional record of our shared community history and a journal of academic meta on fannish issues.
In addition, our monies and effort helped defray any legal costs involved, as well as providing a network of support for any court cases.
Worst-Case Scenario:
Everything is copacetic.
We continue using our existing journaling, archive, mailing list & personal website framework without fear of reprisal.
However, the legal costs could be substantial, and individual fans may be left largely responsible.
2.
Fan fiction is determined by the courts to be illegal.
Worst-Case Scenario:
The fandom community is disbanded, scattered or otherwise transformed as people are forced to abandon fandom completely and/or go deep "underground".
However, our monies and effort allowed us to help defray any legal costs, as well as providing a network of support for any court cases
Worst-Case Scenario:
The fandom community is disbanded, scattered or otherwise transformed as people are forced to abandon fandom completely and/or go deep "underground".
In addition, the legal costs could be substantial, and individual fans may be left largely responsible.
Now, granted, these worst-case scenarios. They may or may not come to pass -- things may not get that bad, or hell, they may get even worse. Nobody knows, and that's exactly my point. Whether we will wind up in Row 1 or Row 2 when that eventual court case goes down is, at this point, a complete unknown; some of us are suspect things will go one way, others suspect the other, but none of us knows for sure. All we can do is guess.
Whether we wind up in Column A or Column B, however, is completely within our control. This is a decision we can make now for ourselves. We can decide to either wait and see, hoping nothing bad happens, or we can take action, and attempt to protect ourselves (or at least lessen the potential fallout).
Obviously, I would LOVE to see 1A -- that's the ideal. I would be overjoyed if all the fuss behind OTW was unnecessary, and fandom continues to grow and thrive and evolve, the way it has since I first got involved in it. I would delight in a future where we don't have to constantly worry about getting shut down or kicked out.
But the truth is, despite all my best optimistic tendencies, I'm not willing to simply sit on my hands and hope for the best on this one. I want to know that I was part of something that at least tried to make things better for (at least part of) fandom -- even if we eventually fail, or fandom as we know it eventually bites the dust anyway. I feel like risk of doing nothing far outweighs the risks of trying.
And that's why I joined OTW.
** In the interest of full disclosure, I should point out that this graph-argument style was inspired by this video about global climate change.**
So, this week has been designated 'Why I Joined OTW' week at otw_news. I haven't really talked much about my involvement with OTW in this journal, partly because this whole venture is still very much in the planning/organizational stages, but mostly because I'd rather leave the community relations to... well, Community Relations. I wasn't even sure I was going to post anything this week until I saw Kassie's post earlier, and it got my brain working.
To be clear: this is only my opinion. It does not reflect nor does it represent the official position of OTW. If you disagree with me, that's fine! I have no problem with people disagreeing with me (unless we're talking about the utter joy that is Joe Flanigan's face) -- however, in this particular instance, I am not interested in hosting a debate. I get that not everyone will be with me on this, and that some of you may strongly oppose it. I'm not trying to convert anyone or engage in a lengthy discussion about the relative merits or drawbacks of the project here; there are plenty of other places for those conversations, if that's what you're looking for. This is simply my two cents, in case anyone is interested, and comments will be disabled.
I have seen concern in various places that OTW may be drawing attention to or 'outing' fan fiction in a way that some fans don't like/aren't comfortable with/aren't ready for, but I believe that the way things have been progressing, it is inevitable. An intense focus on the internet -- and those vast heaps money to be made here -- has been building, and I have no doubt that ventures like FanLib are merely the first step in a series efforts to profit from or make popular and mainstream our fannish endeavors.
The combination of increased press coverage (which certainly existed prior to and independent of any influence by OTW) and the easy flow of information on the web means that fandom's days of being a mysterious, secret subculture, lurking in the periphery, are rapidly coming to a close, and it's is only a matter of time before the first much-dreaded court action takes place, and some fans, somewhere, will be called upon to defend themselves.
People may feel uneasy with OTW attempting to speak for 'all of fandom' -- a notion that I feel sure OTW would distance themselves from; I don't think anyone in fandom believes that anyone could properly represent all of us -- but the only other option is letting people outside of fandom define us and speak for us. And I'm doubt the outside world would be nearly so kind, nor would they be any less likely to paint all of fandom with one giant brush.
To my mind, the creation of OTW can result in one of a few possible outcomes:
A.
We take proactive steps to protect ourselves & our fannish community as a whole.
B.
We do nothing, and believe/hope everything will be fine.
1.
Fan fiction is determined by the courts to be legal.
Worst-Case Scenario:
We have built what will hopefully be a useful resource, with not only a fan-run archive for fan fiction, but an additional record of our shared community history and a journal of academic meta on fannish issues.
In addition, our monies and effort helped defray any legal costs involved, as well as providing a network of support for any court cases.
Worst-Case Scenario:
Everything is copacetic.
We continue using our existing journaling, archive, mailing list & personal website framework without fear of reprisal.
However, the legal costs could be substantial, and individual fans may be left largely responsible.
2.
Fan fiction is determined by the courts to be illegal.
Worst-Case Scenario:
The fandom community is disbanded, scattered or otherwise transformed as people are forced to abandon fandom completely and/or go deep "underground".
However, our monies and effort allowed us to help defray any legal costs, as well as providing a network of support for any court cases
Worst-Case Scenario:
The fandom community is disbanded, scattered or otherwise transformed as people are forced to abandon fandom completely and/or go deep "underground".
In addition, the legal costs could be substantial, and individual fans may be left largely responsible.
Now, granted, these worst-case scenarios. They may or may not come to pass -- things may not get that bad, or hell, they may get even worse. Nobody knows, and that's exactly my point. Whether we will wind up in Row 1 or Row 2 when that eventual court case goes down is, at this point, a complete unknown; some of us are suspect things will go one way, others suspect the other, but none of us knows for sure. All we can do is guess.
Whether we wind up in Column A or Column B, however, is completely within our control. This is a decision we can make now for ourselves. We can decide to either wait and see, hoping nothing bad happens, or we can take action, and attempt to protect ourselves (or at least lessen the potential fallout).
Obviously, I would LOVE to see 1A -- that's the ideal. I would be overjoyed if all the fuss behind OTW was unnecessary, and fandom continues to grow and thrive and evolve, the way it has since I first got involved in it. I would delight in a future where we don't have to constantly worry about getting shut down or kicked out.
But the truth is, despite all my best optimistic tendencies, I'm not willing to simply sit on my hands and hope for the best on this one. I want to know that I was part of something that at least tried to make things better for (at least part of) fandom -- even if we eventually fail, or fandom as we know it eventually bites the dust anyway. I feel like risk of doing nothing far outweighs the risks of trying.
And that's why I joined OTW.
** In the interest of full disclosure, I should point out that this graph-argument style was inspired by this video about global climate change.**