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fanworks

[QUOTE] From Susan Hall, The Future of Fanworks Legal Q&A – Post 2

One area of serious concern which has not received the attention which perhaps it should is the privatisation or enclosure of folk works, historical or mythological figures or works which are out of copyright (for example, Mulan, Robin Hood, the Jungle Books, Pooh Bear) by the growing use of trade marks. Although trade marks should only restrict commercial uses of intellectual property, the danger by way of using trade mark law as a way of deterring ISPs from hosting fanworks in future is a danger which should not be overlooked.

[QUOTE] From Susan Hall, The Future of Fanworks Legal Q&A – Post 2

(Q: Given the increasing visibility of fanworks to both content/source creators and the public, what do you think are some important points to emphasize — or sources to use — when explaining fanworks to people who are unfamiliar with them?)

I think it’s important to stress that the simplistic “all fanworks are theft” line peddled by the likes of Anne Rice and Lee Goldberg is, and always has been, completely unsupported in law, even in the more restrictive legal systems of the EU. Furthermore, there are a lot of myths about alleged cases with have been brought and alleged rulings against fanworks, most of which do not stand up to scrutiny.

A report recently commissioned by the EU into the use made to date by European countries of the exceptions in favour of “parody, caricature or pastiche” introduced by the Copyright Directive of 2001 or equivalent local exceptions was unable to find any EU cases where successful legal action had been brought against fanworks by rightsholders.

[REQUEST] Academic works on uses of fanworks in education

Rebecca Tushnet is looking for academic works that talk about the uses of transformative works in education, for instance how various kinds of fanworks are used in classrooms, what skills and knowledge people learn from making/consuming fanworks, and so on. She’s especially interested in what the most well-known and authoritative sources on fanworks in education are, but any sources would be very welcome.

Suggestions? Thanks in advance!

Crosspost: fanhackers.tumblr.com/post/63041136528

[LINK] Professional Author Fanfic Policies – Fanlore

fanlore.org/wiki/Professional_Author_Fanfic_Policies

This page is such interesting reading, especially the patterns that emerge when authors talk about the reasons why they changed their minds about fic, why they allow it but don’t read it, and so on. Several authors (Ellen Kushner, Poppy Z. Brite) mention that they once believed fic endangered their copyright in their works, but have since learned that that fear is false. Others, like Orson Scott Card and Jennifer Roberson, still seem to be clinging to it to some degree. Many more authors (Sarah Rees Brennan, N.K. Jemisin, Marjorie M. Liu, Diana Peterfreund, Kaja & Phil Foglio, Katherine Kurtz) mention that they don’t read fic for legal reasons, Many others mention that they read and write fic, or sometimes even comment on it.

Most of the sources cited for the authors’ comments seem to be fairly recent. It’s interesting to see that even today, there’s so much variety in how pro authors understand the relation between fanworks and copyright law. You’d expect that there would be at least some sort of professional consensus by now, but it seems like echoes of the confusion caused by the Marion Zimmer Bradley Contraband incident are still around.

[QUOTE] From tishaturk, fandom: best vs. favorite

As a side note, the behind-the-scenes work that goes into reccing, reblogging, running awards sites, administering prompt memes, tagging for meme archives, etc., is why I get so frustrated with definitions of “fan work” that focus primarily on writing fic and making vids and ignore or handwave all the other kinds of work that make my daily fannish experience what it is. Fandom runs on the engine of production, but a lot of what we produce is information, architecture, access, not just artifacts.

tishaturk.dreamwidth.org/12398.html

[LINK] Discussion of Fanhackers’ “no quoting fannish meta without permission” policy and about fanwork permissions in general

elf.dreamwidth.org/673250.html

Thoughtful critique of our “no quoting fannish meta without permission” policy, and discussion in the comments about how to make it easier for fans to indicate that what sort of re-use of their work they’re okay with (or not).