OTW mentioned on Zuckerman's blog and Boing Boing

[femmequixotic]

OTW has been mentioned on Ethan Zuckerman's blog.

By using the word "transformative" in the organization name, the organizers of the group are advocating a legal argument - writing fan fiction based on the characters and universes of copyright-protected media is a transformative use, protected by fair use clauses in US copyright law. In other words, this is an attempt to stand up and fight for this interpretation, rather than hiding from copyright holders, which is a huge step forward to this subculture....

OTW has taken a very interesting step in declaring that fan culture has a dominant gender. In their statement of values, they note, "We value our identity as a predominantly female community with a rich history of creativity and commentary." Here, again, it's important to understand the definition of "fan culture" - media fandom, fanfic and vidding, a culture that's predominantly female, though not exclusively so.

Zuckerman's blog post has also been noted on Boing Boing.

ETA: OTW has also been mentioned on Netribution, and on the blogs of Tobias Buckell and John Scalzi. (Thanks to droneish for the links to the last two.)

--femmequixotic, bethbethbeth, ciderpress, mirabile_dictu, shrift, svmadelyn
Community Relations Committee

Comments

[lydiabell.livejournal.com]

I *know* that I have seen this addressed elsewhere, but since I can't find it, I can't point anyone to it.

So, I'm sorry to make you repeat yourselves, but could you just clarify what the membership fee is, and that nobody will be charged to use the archive or any other OTW service?

Thanks!

[shrift.livejournal.com]

We've realized that the FAQ on the website isn't clear on this subject, and we plan to address that. Thank you for bringing it to our attention!

No donation will ever be required to use the archive or any of its tools, and the archive will be free of advertising.

The minimum annual donation for membership in the OTW is $10. Members of the OTW will have voting rights to vote for the Board of Directors as they come up for election. OTW members may also run for the Board of Directors.