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morgandawnThe work the OTW does in securing the DMCA exception for vidders and of providing a platform for fan fic to continue to thrive openly and without continuously looking over its collective shoulder, is part of a bigger picture. Namely, the systematic erosion of the principle of fair use... Libraries and museums and archives are struggling and are watching large portions of our culture and history, along with our fair use rights, be lost to corporate interests.
"What has developed in the content industries is a sense that copyright exists to support their businesses, so any new way they find to extract a little extra money from the rights they hold should be endorsed and protected by the courts. If you start from that premise, it makes sense to sue libraries for providing digital copies to blind people and professors for giving students access to short excerpts from a scholarly book because you believe you are acting from within the core purpose of copyright. But the premise is wrong."
“Kevin Smith, in today’s ...article Why Are Some Publishers So Wrong About Fair Use?
In the US, archivists have developed, on their own, Best Practices Guide to Fair Use. They are documenting its use here.
And how does this relate to fandom? last year a group of fans wanted to read stories out loud to vision impaired fans. These were old print zines where you could not use computer tech to enhance access. And, rather than create a permanent recording, they offered to read each story live using the conferencing feature many phones have and then discuss the story afterward. Members of the fan community were outraged that someone was doing this without the written permission of every author and every publisher. Because the community allowed those outraged voices to dictate the dialog, the project folded.
"What has developed in the content industries is a sense that copyright exists to support their businesses, so any new way they find to extract a little extra money from the rights they hold should be endorsed and protected by the courts. If you start from that premise, it makes sense to sue libraries for providing digital copies to blind people and professors for giving students access to short excerpts from a scholarly book because you believe you are acting from within the core purpose of copyright. But the premise is wrong."
“Kevin Smith, in today’s ...article Why Are Some Publishers So Wrong About Fair Use?
In the US, archivists have developed, on their own, Best Practices Guide to Fair Use. They are documenting its use here.
And how does this relate to fandom? last year a group of fans wanted to read stories out loud to vision impaired fans. These were old print zines where you could not use computer tech to enhance access. And, rather than create a permanent recording, they offered to read each story live using the conferencing feature many phones have and then discuss the story afterward. Members of the fan community were outraged that someone was doing this without the written permission of every author and every publisher. Because the community allowed those outraged voices to dictate the dialog, the project folded.
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Date: 2012-12-10 05:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-10 05:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-10 06:29 pm (UTC)I guess it shouldn't be surprising that publishers are seeing fair use the same way the recording, movie, and TV industries do -- everyone is potentially stealing money out of their pockets, so they keep grasping harder and harder, trying to hold onto it.
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Date: 2012-12-10 07:08 pm (UTC)Publishers....are you talking about fanzine publishers who today cannot even give away their print fanzines? Fanzine publishers who, by many fan's standards today, should be reported for IP infringement because they are "selling" fan fiction.
The idea that fans would adopt the same IP approach as professional publishers makes me itch in awkward places. One of the points that the HTrust made in their book scanning project was that the pro publishers refused to make the millions of out of print book accessible to the sight impaired because there was no profitable market. But the publishers still felt they could block access because copyright is all about them and fair use is this useless appendix that needs to be cut out before it bursts and kills their business model.
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Date: 2012-12-10 08:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-10 08:25 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-10 11:05 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-10 11:29 pm (UTC)So please next time you read a fanfic out loud to a friend, please to be checking under the bed first.
(and yes, the fact that multiple people would be on the phone call to hear the story and after discussion was one of the sticking points).
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Date: 2012-12-10 11:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-10 11:50 pm (UTC)And when fans are not talking about applying copyright principles (to fanfic), it is becoming increasingly framed as "morals" and "ethics" and "the fannish way" to require permission before doing [insert whatever] with fanfic/fan art/vids. And while that [whatever] can include a wide range of actions, some of which *should* require permission, I am finding that saying you are ...un-fannish because you decide to read fanfic to 2 or 200 or 2000 sight impaired fans without author and publisher permission is....less than fannish. It is like there are these RULES and these RULES are ALL and there shall NEVER be anything but these RULES, and in fact these RULES have always been the FANNISH WAY.