An Introduction to the Organization for Transformative Works

[femmequixotic]

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 (cmshaw)
Alice Toulmin
Lim (lim)

COMMUNITY RELATIONS
Chair: Femme (femmequixotic)
Beth H (bethbethbeth)
Ciderpress (ciderpress)
Madelyn (svmadelyn)
Mira (mirabile_dictu)
Shrift (shrift)

DEVELOPMENT & MEMBERSHIP
Chair: Jo Graham

ELECTIONS
Chair: Cordelia V (cordelia_v)
Sinope (eponis)
Ellen Fremedon (ellen_fremedon)
Jeddy (jeddy83)
Par Avion (par_avion)

FINANCIAL
Chair: Susan Gibel
Cat Meier (fairestcat)
Celli Lane (celli)
Zellieh (zellieh)

LEGAL
Chair: Rebecca Tushnet
Heidi Tandy (heidi8)
Fox (darthfox)
Lia (lwdagreat)
Killalla (killalla)

PUBLIC RELATIONS
Chair: Dafna Greer (dafnagreer)
Iphi (iphi1)
Kass (kassrachel)
Laura JV (jacquez)
Mahoy (mahoy)

SYSTEMS
Chair: Jade Lennox (jadelennox)
Xenacryst (xenacryst)
Risha Fisk (rishabree)

VOLUNTEERS & RECRUITING
Chair: Devildoll (devildoll)
Sanj (sanj)
Green (xanphibian)
VK (vonknibble)
Morganmuffle (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!