femmequixotic: (default femme)
femmequixotic ([personal profile] femmequixotic) wrote in [community profile] otw_news2007-09-28 12:00 pm
Entry tags:

An Introduction to the Organization for Transformative Works

Hi! Well, we promised more updates, and this is the first of several coming up over the next few days--we don't want to overwhelm you guys with too much information in just one post.

The name fanarchive is no more; instead a non-profit organization has been created to oversee the archive project. The Organization for Transformative Works--which you'll see frequently shortened to OTW around here from now on--has been incorporated in Delaware and is currently seeking federal tax-exempt status. (That's a process that will take us a little while--government red tape, after all.)

OTW has a website located at www.transformativeworks.org. Right now it's serving as a placeholder, but our Public Relations committee is hard at work setting up a site that will be informative and helpful, particularly to those outside of fandom.

We're currently in the process of soliciting volunteers for the project--in all areas! Some of you who have previously volunteered may have already been contacted via email last week if we had your email addresses on file. If you have not received an email and you volunteered or you want to volunteer now, please email volunteers@transformativeworks.org and we'll put you on our masterlist of volunteers.

Our primary focus is going to be setting up the archive itself. That's our first priority. In addition, we'll be working on a few other projects, such as a fan history wiki, an academic fan journal, and a legal defense fund. We'll have more details on those projects in upcoming weeks.

A lot of people have asked about the possibility of OTW setting up a fan journaling service. While this has not been ruled out, unfortunately setting up a site like that would be very resource-intensive and would involve us in two heavy software coding projects at the same time. Because of that, it's not likely to hit our project timeline for at least another year, perhaps two. However, the archive itself will give fans the opportunity to house some of the content that might find them TOS'd in other places.

In its mission statement, the Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) defines itself as a nonprofit organization established by fans to serve the interests of fans by providing access to and preserving the history of fan works and culture in its myriad forms.

We're dedicated to doing everything possible to protect and archive fanworks across the board. Our goal is to be as inclusive of fandom as we can possibly be; our legal team is determining how best to protect fannish works that fall into non-mainstream genres. We as an organization want to celebrate fannish activity, to work for legal and societal recognition of the legitimacy and creativity of fannish works, to protect fanworks legally, to nurture fandom and fan creations, and to give all fans as much access to fan activity as we possibly can.

In order to do so, a number of committees have been set up under the direction of the board and are staffed by various members of fandom. Below is the listing of the board and all current committee members. All members of the board are associated with fandom, but due to legal requirements, they are listed by their public identities; for privacy issues, their fannish identities will not be overtly connected to their legal names.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Naomi Novik (president, chair: ADT)
Susan Gibel (treasurer, chair: Financial)
Francesca Coppa (secretary, liaison to ComRel, Volunteers)
Jo Graham (chair: Development)
Rebecca Tushnet (chair: Legal)
Michele Tepper (liaison to Systems)
Cathy Cupitt (liaison to Elections, PR)

ACCESSIBILITY, DESIGN, & TECHNOLOGY
Chair: Naomi Novik
Michele Tepper
cmshaw ([livejournal.com profile] cmshaw)
Alice Toulmin
Lim ([livejournal.com profile] lim)

COMMUNITY RELATIONS
Chair: Femme ([livejournal.com profile] femmequixotic)
Beth H ([livejournal.com profile] bethbethbeth)
Ciderpress ([livejournal.com profile] ciderpress)
Madelyn ([livejournal.com profile] svmadelyn)
Mira ([livejournal.com profile] mirabile_dictu)
Shrift ([livejournal.com profile] shrift)

DEVELOPMENT & MEMBERSHIP
Chair: Jo Graham

ELECTIONS
Chair: Cordelia V ([livejournal.com profile] cordelia_v)
Sinope ([livejournal.com profile] eponis)
Ellen Fremedon ([livejournal.com profile] ellen_fremedon)
Jeddy ([livejournal.com profile] jeddy83)
Par Avion ([livejournal.com profile] par_avion)

FINANCIAL
Chair: Susan Gibel
Cat Meier ([livejournal.com profile] fairestcat)
Celli Lane ([livejournal.com profile] celli)
Zellieh ([livejournal.com profile] zellieh)

LEGAL
Chair: Rebecca Tushnet
Heidi Tandy ([livejournal.com profile] heidi8)
Fox ([livejournal.com profile] darthfox)
Lia ([livejournal.com profile] lwdagreat)
Killalla ([livejournal.com profile] killalla)

PUBLIC RELATIONS
Chair: Dafna Greer ([livejournal.com profile] dafnagreer)
Iphi ([livejournal.com profile] iphi1)
Kass ([livejournal.com profile] kassrachel)
Laura JV ([livejournal.com profile] jacquez)
Mahoy ([livejournal.com profile] mahoy)

SYSTEMS
Chair: Jade Lennox ([livejournal.com profile] jadelennox)
Xenacryst ([livejournal.com profile] xenacryst)
Risha Fisk ([livejournal.com profile] rishabree)

VOLUNTEERS & RECRUITING
Chair: Devildoll ([livejournal.com profile] devildoll)
Sanj ([livejournal.com profile] sanj)
Green ([livejournal.com profile] xanphibian)
VK ([livejournal.com profile] vonknibble)
Morganmuffle ([livejournal.com profile] morganmuffle)

We're all incredibly excited about the direction the organization is taking and upcoming projects. Keep your eye on this comm for more updates regarding projects and how you can be involved in crafting a fannish space for each and every one of us. And if you've any comments or suggestions or questions you're curious about, please feel free to comment here. We might not have all the answers yet---the various committees are doing a lot of setup work at the moment--but members of the Community Relations committee would be happy to talk to talk to you guys about what's going on behind the scenes. And if we don't have answers for you, we'll see what we can do to find out. Just be aware that at the moment, some of our answers might be along the lines of "we're working on figuring that out"--there's a lot of back-end stuff that's waiting on outside sources or even the answers to questions we're asking each other internally. :)

Thanks, you guys, and if you ever need to get in touch with the Community Relations committee, please email us at comrel@transformativeworks.org!

This is so freakin' fantastic!

[identity profile] laurashapiro.livejournal.com 2007-09-28 04:38 pm (UTC)(link)
How soon can I contribute medium-sized bucks to the legal defense fund? ::waves wallet::

Re: This is so freakin' fantastic!

[identity profile] jackiekjono.livejournal.com 2007-09-28 07:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Seconding both the subject and the message. It makes my day.

[identity profile] thebratqueen.livejournal.com 2007-09-28 04:50 pm (UTC)(link)
You guys are made of awesome. Seriously.

[identity profile] i-the-eo.livejournal.com 2007-09-28 05:02 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm so ridiculously excited about all of this.

I haven't got any skills I think would be particularly useful, but I do have a massive collection of fanworks saved to my harddrive. If you guys want a look at it, or could use me in any other way, I'm more than willing to help.

[identity profile] mirabile-dictu.livejournal.com 2007-09-29 04:52 pm (UTC)(link)
That's great! Would you mind dropping an email to http://volunteers@transformativeworks.org so they can add you to the list of folks willing to help? Someone on that committee will be getting back to you.

Thank you so much!
ext_1175: (Martha Yay! by uktechgirl)

[identity profile] lamardeuse.livejournal.com 2007-09-28 05:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Just - wow.
ext_942: (Default)

[identity profile] giglet.livejournal.com 2007-09-28 05:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Yay! I am so proud of you, and excited for all of us!

[identity profile] serrana.livejournal.com 2007-09-28 05:33 pm (UTC)(link)
I've spent the last umpteen months working on 501(c)3 status for the nonprofit I work for -- if whoever's doing that for you has questions, tell them they can feel free to drop me a line (at which point I will probably say something really constructive like "OMG, I have no idea, I hadn't even thought of that, let's call the IRS).

[identity profile] mirabile-dictu.livejournal.com 2007-09-29 04:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Excellent! Would you mind dropping volunteers@transformativeworks.org an email to let them know? Someone from that committee is probably monitoring this post, but just in case, I don't want you to slip away.

Thank you so much!

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woolandwater: (Default)

[personal profile] woolandwater 2007-09-28 05:46 pm (UTC)(link)
I am so amazingly excited about this. I can't wait to help! ^_^

[identity profile] whetherwoman.livejournal.com 2007-09-28 05:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh my god, so. freaking. awesome. You guys rock. A lot.

[identity profile] teostra.livejournal.com 2007-09-28 05:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Great! I love the list of values, especially. I can't wait until I can make myself useful for this amazing project.

Also, and completely unrelated, I just typed "Ω" on accident. Wow.

[identity profile] dine.livejournal.com 2007-09-28 06:07 pm (UTC)(link)
it's amazing and wonderful to see how much has been accomplished! you guys totally rock
ratcreature: RatCreature is enthusiastic: Yay! (yay!)

[personal profile] ratcreature 2007-09-28 06:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Very cool!

Has been decided yet whether the archive will be only for fiction or also for art?

[identity profile] mirabile-dictu.livejournal.com 2007-09-29 10:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Hi, you! Please remember that all our answers right now are very tentative; this is only the beginning of the outreach process. But right now, the plan is for the archive to include just fiction, at least at the start. There are lots of other projects being considered, though, so I hope that you, as an artist, will participate in the upcoming discussions about What Should OTW Do and Be.

Kind of an unsatisfactory response, I know, but these are really early days.

Thank you!

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[identity profile] absolutedestiny.livejournal.com 2007-09-28 06:36 pm (UTC)(link)
I love the fact that when I read OTW my brain decodes it as Oh The Win.

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luminosity: (fighting forms)

[personal profile] luminosity 2007-09-28 06:42 pm (UTC)(link)
This is wonderful, progressive news.
ext_22: Pretty girl with a gele on (Default)

[identity profile] quivo.livejournal.com 2007-09-28 06:42 pm (UTC)(link)
This is so awesome! Can't wait to get involved some more :D

[identity profile] mirabile-dictu.livejournal.com 2007-09-29 10:40 pm (UTC)(link)
That would be great! I bet you already have, but just in case not, please drop volunteers@transformativeworks.org an email to let them know. Thank you!

Fan History Wiki

[identity profile] partly-bouncy.livejournal.com 2007-09-28 06:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Hey, heads up, a fan fiction history wiki (http://www.fanhistory.com) already exists.

Re: Fan History Wiki

[identity profile] bethbethbeth.livejournal.com 2007-09-28 08:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Hey! Just a quick note to say thanks for the link, and to (mostly) repeat what I said somewhere below:

Femme's not here to reply to the post (since I'm on the Community Relations committee, I'm tracking comments from our main LJ journal), but I'm sure she'd say that this is about bringing another voice into the preservation of fannish history, something akin to the way that the OTW archive, when it goes live, won't be the only archive in existence, but will be joining hundreds of other fanfic archives.

In any case, that project is still somewhere down the road. We'll be discussing it in greater detail as OTW's plans develop.

Re: Fan History Wiki

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Re: Fan History Wiki

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Re: Fan History Wiki

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Re: Fan History Wiki

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ext_18066: Default (Misc - blue heart on wall)

[identity profile] apple-pi.livejournal.com 2007-09-28 07:19 pm (UTC)(link)
You guys are amazing. Every one of you. I will be the one over to the side, with big pom-poms, a wallet with your name on it, and GIANT HEAPS OF LOVE. *\o/*
ext_9226: (Default)

[identity profile] snailbones.livejournal.com 2007-09-28 07:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow - good luck guys.
ext_9141: (timelord)

[identity profile] suaine.livejournal.com 2007-09-28 07:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Looking good :)
ext_3629: blue wallpaper, leafy pattern (Default)

[identity profile] elizaria.livejournal.com 2007-09-28 07:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Wonderful! You've certainly worked hard. It's looking good people :)

[identity profile] hector-rashbaum.livejournal.com 2007-09-28 07:40 pm (UTC)(link)
a fan history wiki

What's wrong with the existing one (http://www.fanhistory.com)?

[identity profile] sidewinder.livejournal.com 2007-09-28 08:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Indeed. I contribute there when I can, wouldn't be looking to reinvent that wheel elsewhere when there's a perfectly fine wiki already.

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[identity profile] umbo.livejournal.com 2007-09-28 08:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Yay! This is so cool!

[identity profile] telperion1.livejournal.com 2007-09-28 09:05 pm (UTC)(link)
First I want to say: you guys are made of awesomeness. No two ways about it.

Also, one comment:

A lot of people have asked about the possibility of OTW setting up a fan journaling service. While this has not been ruled out, unfortunately setting up a site like that would be very resource-intensive and would involve us in two heavy software coding projects at the same time.

I realize that it would be technically difficult to do both projects at once. It's reasonable to focus on the archive. However, would it be feasible to incorporate, in a fairly obvious way (so all authors know they can do this) a place for them to provide a link to their blog in their user information? I'm afraid that if you wait on this it will be hard to gather the information later. As a reader I really enjoy being able to find my fave authors' journal, and if they ever are deleted then it would be a central location where authors can tell their fan base where their new journal is - just change the link in their user information to their new blog.

Admittedly, this would not address the larger question of LJ's (or whatever site's) not understanding the difference between pornography and erotic fanart/fan fiction, and setting up a fannish journaling service may be a good long-term goal. But I think that providing a central directory of personal blogs of authors, wherever they happen to be located, is a very useful thing to do in its own right.

[identity profile] bethbethbeth.livejournal.com 2007-09-28 09:11 pm (UTC)(link)
That's a very good idea. I'll make sure it gets passed on!

-Beth, on the way out the door to go to a movie...

[identity profile] bloodrebel333.livejournal.com 2007-09-28 09:38 pm (UTC)(link)
When will the volunteers hear about what committees/groups they're in and what they have to do?
havocthecat: the lady of shalott (Default)

[personal profile] havocthecat 2007-09-28 09:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Yay! I can't do much to help except cheer you on, but I'll do that gleefully.
alassenya: Mallorn leaf with Alassenya in Tengwar (Default)

[personal profile] alassenya 2007-09-28 10:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks for the news - I look forward to seeing how the organisation develops. And don't forget to let us know when we can start contributing funds.

[identity profile] shrift.livejournal.com 2007-09-29 07:15 pm (UTC)(link)
OTW isn't ready to accept donations yet -- it just got a bank account -- but we'll have that information for you all soon!

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