Organization for Transformative Works

The Organization for Transformative Works offers the following services and platforms to fans in a myriad of fandoms:

• Archive of Our Own (AO3): An open-source, non-commercial, non-profit, multi-fandom web archive built by fans for hosting fan fiction and for embedding other fanwork, including fan art, fan videos, and podfic.
• Fanlore: A wiki for fans from a wide range of communities whose published mission is to provide a platform "to record and share their histories, experiences and traditions"{{cite web|title = Fanlore:About - Fanlore|url = http://fanlore.org/wiki/Fanlore:About|website = fanlore.org|access-date = 2016-02-08}} in fandom and fanwork history.
• Open Doors: Preservation of fannish historical artifacts, such as zines and Geocities websites, as well as transferring fanfiction to Archive of Our Own from other websites when they shut down.
• Transformative Works and Cultures: A peer-reviewed academic journal for scholarship on fanworks and practices
• Legal advocacy to the fandom community, addressing the legal issues with fan fiction and other fan works, including defending fans' fair use of copyrighted material.{{cite web|title = Legal Advocacy {{!}} Organization for Transformative Works|url = http://transformativeworks.org/projects/legal|website = transformativeworks.org|access-date = 2016-02-08}}
• Vidding (2008): a series of six short documentaries on vidding, in combination with participatory-culture academic Henry Jenkins and the New Media Literacies project at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.{{cite web | last = Jenkins | first = Henry | author-link = Henry Jenkins | title = Fan Vidding: A Labor of Love (Part One) | date = 5 December 2008 | url = http://henryjenkins.org/2008/12/fanvidding.html | access-date = 28 November 2009}}
• Fanhackers: A directory of information and resources to help fans, academics, and activists, including good metadata (information, analysis, and discussion about data).{{cite web|title = About|url = http://fanhackers.transformativeworks.org/about/|website = Fanhackers|access-date = 2016-02-12}}

The OTW provides legal assistance to the fandom community, addressing the legal issues with fan fiction and other fan works. Rebecca Tushnet, a noted legal scholar on fanfiction and fair use in copyright and trademark law, works with the OTW's legal project. In 2008, the OTW (in coordination with the Electronic Frontier Foundation) successfully submitted requests to the Library of Congress for further exceptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to allow the fair use of video clips for certain noncommercial uses such as video remixes, commentary, and education, as well as to protect technology used for such purposes. The exceptions were also successfully renewed in 2012 and expanded in 2015.{{cite web|last=Estavillo|first=Maricel|title=US Makes New Exemptions To Digital Millennium Copyright Act Provision|date=November 2012|url=http://www.ip-watch.org/2012/11/01/us-makes-new-exemptions-to-digital-millennium-copyright-act-provision/|publisher=Intellectual Property Watch|access-date=30 April 2013}}{{cite web|last=Staff.|title=EFF Wins Renewal of Smartphone Jailbreaking Rights|url=http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/53589/|publisher=Kansas City InfoZine|access-date=30 April 2012|archive-date=27 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130327214848/http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/53589/|url-status=dead}}{{cite news |url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2015-27212.pdf |title=Exemption to Prohibition on Circumvention of Copyright Protection Systems for Access Control Technologies |first=David S. |last=Mao |date=20 October 2015 |access-date=9 June 2018 |publisher=United States Library of Congress}} The OTW, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and New Media Rights submitted a new petition for exemptions in 2018.{{cite news |url=http://www.transformativeworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/EFF_NMR_OTW_1201_Comment__proposed_class_1.pdf |title=Comments of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, New Media Rights, Organizational for Transformative Works on Proposed Class 1 – Audovisual Works – Criticism and Comment |access-date=9 June 2018 |publisher=United States Copyright Office}}

The OTW has also submitted several amicus briefs to the courts in several cases involving intellectual property law:

• In Fox v. Dish, the OTW (in coalition with the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Public Knowledge) submitted an amicus brief which argued in defense of digital recording methods used by Dish Network, claiming that "The popular fanwork genre of noncommercial videos ('vids') uses clips from television shows or film, reworking them in a way that comments on or critiques the original. The Copyright Office has held that substantial numbers of vids constitute fair uses. But the creation of fan vids requires intermediate digital copying and processing in order to produce the transformative final product. OTW thus believes that intermediate copying performed to facilitate fair use constitutes fair use."{{cite web|title=Fox vs. Dish Amici Brief|url=http://transformativeworks.org/sites/default/files/EFF%20PK%20OTW%20Amicus%20in%20Fox%20v%20Dish-1.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429123941/https://www.transformativeworks.org/sites/default/files/EFF%20PK%20OTW%20Amicus%20in%20Fox%20v%20Dish-1.pdf|archive-date=2014-04-29|access-date=30 April 2013|publisher=Organization for Transformative Works}}
• In the case of Ryan Hart v. Electronic Arts, the OTW (in combination with the Digital Media Law Project and the International Documentary Association) submitted a brief arguing that Electronic Arts's use of factual information (such as the height, weight, and jersey number of football players) in creative works (in this case, video games) is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.{{cite web|title=Ryan Hart vs. Electronic Arts Amici Brief|url=http://transformativeworks.org/sites/default/files/Hart%20v.%20EA%20-%20Amici%20Brief.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108095936/https://www.transformativeworks.org/sites/default/files/Hart%20v.%20EA%20-%20Amici%20Brief.pdf|archive-date=2012-11-08|access-date=30 April 2013|publisher=Organization for Transformative Works}}

The OTW has also instituted several projects for preserving fan history and culture. One such project was the creation of Fanlore, a wiki for preserving fandom history. The Fanlore wiki was first revealed in beta in 2008, with a full release in December 2010.{{cite web|title=Our Projects: Fanlore|url=http://transformativeworks.org/projects/fanlore|publisher=Organization for Transformative Works.|access-date=30 April 2013}} In June 2018, there were approximately 45,000 articles and 800,000 edits to the wiki,{{cite news |url=https://fanlore.org/w/index.php?title=Main_Page&oldid=1175044 |publisher=Fanlore |title=Main Page |date=12 May 2018 |access-date=9 June 2018 |quote=45,229 articles, 793,761 edits}} and it passed a million edits in January 2021.{{cite web |url=https://www.transformativeworks.org/fanlore-celebrates-one-million-edits/ |author=Jess H |title=Fanlore Celebrates One Million Edits |date=18 January 2021 |publisher=Organization for Transformative Works |accessdate=4 February 2021}}

The OTW also has several "Open Doors" projects dedicated to the preservation of fannish historical artifacts. These projects include The Fan Culture Preservation Project, a joint venture between the OTW and the Special Collections department at the University of Iowa{{cite web|title = ArchivesSpace at the University of Iowa, Public Interface {{!}} University of Iowa Special Collections {{!}} Organization for Transformative Works Fanzine and Fan Fiction Collection|url = http://aspace.lib.uiowa.edu/repositories/2/resources/324|website = aspace.lib.uiowa.edu|access-date = 2016-02-12}} to archive and preserve fanzines and other non-digital forms of fan culture, and The GeoCities Rescue Project, which attempted to preserve content originally hosted on Yahoo's GeoCities by transferring that content to new locations on the Archive of Our Own or within the Fanlore wiki.{{cite web|title=Open Doors Projects|url=http://transformativeworks.org/projects/opendoors|publisher=Organization for Transformative Works|access-date=30 April 2013}} Other miscellaneous artifacts and collections are stored on the OTW's main servers in the [http://opendoors.transformativeworks.org/collections/special-collections-gallery Special Collections] gallery.

{{main|Archive of Our Own}}

Created by the OTW, the Archive of Our Own (often shortened to AO3) is an open-source, non-commercial, non-profit archive for fan fiction and other transformative fanwork. The Archive is built and run entirely by volunteers, many without previous coding experience.{{cite web |last = Torkington|first = Nat|title = Four short links: 19 May 2009 -- Recession Map, Gaming Psychology, Charging For Unwanted Content, and Two Great Projects|publisher = O'Reilly Radar|date = 19 May 2009|url = http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/05/four-short-links-19-may-2009.html|access-date = 28 November 2009}} The Archive was publicly launched into open beta on 14 November 2009,{{cite news|url=http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/7|title=Announcing Open Beta|date=14 November 2009|work=AO3 News |access-date=2009-11-19}} and has been growing steadily since.{{cite web|title = Site Stats: A Look at 2013 and Beyond, Part 1, Archive of Our Own|url = http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/363|website = archiveofourown.org|access-date = 2016-02-10|last = Organization for Transformative Works}}

Time magazine included Archive of Our Own on its list of "50 Best Websites 2013". Time said that AO3 "serves all fandoms equally, from The A-Team to Zachary Quinto and beyond", and also called it "the most carefully curated, sanely organized, easily browsable and searchable nonprofit collection of fan fiction on the Web...".{{Cite news|title = 50 Best Websites 2013|url = https://techland.time.com/2013/05/06/50-best-websites-2013/slide/archive-of-our-own/|newspaper = Time|access-date = 2016-02-08|first = Lev|last = Grossman}}

Fans post, tag and categorize their own works on AO3.{{cite web|title = Unpacking the unofficial fanfiction census|url = http://www.dailydot.com/fandom/fandom-fanfiction-ao3-tumblr/|website = The Daily Dot|access-date = 2016-02-08|last = Baker-Whitelaw|first = Gavia|date = 15 July 2013}} Volunteer "tag wranglers" link similar tags so readers can search for works in the categories and types they want.{{cite web|title = Show Wrangling Guideline {{!}} Archive of Our Own|url = http://archiveofourown.org/wrangling_guidelines/2|website = archiveofourown.org|access-date = 2016-02-08|first = Organization for Transformative|last = Works}} The tagging system allows easy compilation of statistics (stats).

Fan fiction ranges in length, from fewer than one thousand words (flash fiction, or one-hundred-word drabbles) to novel-length works, up to millions of words in length. According to an article on fandom statistics published on The Daily Dot newspaper in 2013, AO3 hosts more very short works than long ones, but readers prefer the longer works. The average very short story received fewer than 150 hits, while novel-length works are more likely to receive around 1,500 hits.{{cite web|title = Unpacking the unofficial fanfiction census|url = http://www.dailydot.com/fandom/fandom-fanfiction-ao3-tumblr/|website = The Daily Dot|date = 15 July 2013|access-date = 2016-02-12}}

A writer who posts a story on AO3 can record its word count on the story's header, along with other information such as the story's fandom, ships, and other tropes. Some fan works are 'crossovers' that draw on two or more universes or characters. Writers can also note if their story is finished or a work in progress (WIP).{{cite web|url = https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/handle/11299/175558/Archive%20of%20Our%20Own%20and%20the%20Gift%20Culture%20of%20Fanfiction.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|title = Archive of Our Own and the Gift Culture of Fanfiction: Analysis of an AO3 Fic Header|date = 2015|access-date = 10 February 2016|website = University of Minnesota Libraries: Digital Conservancy|last = Riley|first = Olivia|type = Author's Thesis|pages = 44–58}}

As of 2018, the archive hosts more than 4.2 million works in more than 30,000 fandoms.{{cite web|title = Home {{!}} Archive of Our Own|url = http://archiveofourown.org/|website = archiveofourown.org|access-date = 2018-11-01|first = Organization for Transformative|last = Works}} Destination Toast, fan and statistician,{{cite web|title = Is it possible to quantify fandom? Here's one statistician who's crunching the numbers|url = http://www.dailydot.com/geek/toastystats-ao3-fandom-statistics/?tu=dd|website = The Daily Dot|access-date = 2016-02-08|last = Romano|first = Aja|date = 30 January 2016}} compiles and analyzes fandom statistics, especially stats from Archive of Our Own, which she says is "the most easily searchable archive I know of."{{cite web|title = Fandom stats|url = http://destinationtoast.tumblr.com/stats|website = destinationtoast.tumblr.com|access-date = 2016-02-10}} In January 2016, she posted [http://destinationtoast.tumblr.com/post/136470640483/so-yeah-partly-inspired-by-elizabethminkel-and "2015: A (Statistical) Year in Fandom."] It includes statistics from two other large fan fiction archives, FanFiction.Net (FFN) and Wattpad as well as the popular microblog platform Tumblr. The post shows that the most active fandoms on AO3 in 2015 were (largest first) Supernatural, Dragon Age, Harry Potter, The Avengers, Teen Wolf, and Sherlock.{{cite web|url = http://toastystats.tumblr.com/post/137252531603/destinationtoast-destinationtoast-so-yeah|title = 2015: A (Statistical) Year in Fandom|date = January 2015|access-date = 8 February 2016|website = ToastyStats|publisher = destinationtoast.tumblr.com}} Other media sources include movies, television shows, and books including The Lord of the Rings, Doctor Who, and The Hunger Games.

{{Infobox journal

| italic title = no

| title = Transformative Works and Cultures

| abbreviation = Transform. Works Cult.

| editor = Kristina Busse, Karen Hellekson

| discipline = Interdisciplinary

| publisher = Organization for Transformative Works

| license = Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0

| history = 2008–present

| openaccess = Yes

| impact-year = 2015

| ISSN = 1941-2258

| website = http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/index

}}

Transformative Works and Cultures is a peer-reviewed, open access academic journal published by the Organization for Transformative Works. The journal collects essays, articles, book reviews, and shorter pieces that concern fandom, fanworks, and fan practices.{{cite journal |last1=Hellekson |last2=Blackford |last3=Murphy |first1=Karen |first2=Russell |first3=Graham |title=New Journal: Transformative Works and Cultures |journal=Science Fiction Studies |date=July 2008 |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=360–362 |doi=10.1525/sfs.35.2.0360 |jstor=25475168}}{{cite web |title=Editorial Policies {{!}} Focus and Scope |url=http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/about/editorialPolicies#focusAndScope |website=Transformative Works and Cultures |publisher=Organization for Transformative Works |access-date=October 24, 2016 |archive-date=December 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211015318/http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/about/editorialPolicies#focusAndScope |url-status=dead}} According to Humanities, Arts, Science and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory (HASTAC), the journal "supports the [Organization for Transformative Works's] mission to promote the legitimacy and sustainability of non-commercial fan creativity by providing a forum for innovative criticism in fan studies, broadly conceived."{{cite web|url=http://www.hastac.org:80/scholars/forum/11-02-08Academic-Publishing-in-the-Digital-Age|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416121046/http://www.hastac.org/scholars/forum/11-02-08Academic-Publishing-in-the-Digital-Age|archive-date=April 16, 2009|title=Academic Publishing in the Digital Age|publisher=HASTAC|date=November 2, 2008|url-status=dead}}

The founding editors were Kristina Busse and Karen Hellekson, who remain the editors {{as of|2021|lc=yes}}.{{cite journal |date=2008-09-15 |others=Edited by TWC Editor |title=Transforming academic and fan cultures |url=https://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/71/56 |journal=Transformative Works and Cultures |volume=1 |issue=1 |doi=10.3983/twc.2008.071 |doi-access=free}}{{cite web |url=https://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/about/editorialTeam |title=Transformative Works and Cultures: Editorial Team |publisher=Organization for Transformative Works |access-date=29 January 2021 }} It covers "popular media, fan communities, and transformative works".{{cite journal |first=Karen |last=Hellekson |title=New Journal: Transformative Works and Cultures |journal=Science Fiction Studies |year=2008 |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=360–361 |doi=10.1525/sfs.35.2.0360 |jstor=25475168}}

The journal has raised the academic profile of female fan communities and transformative works, including fan fiction, fan art, fan vids, and cosplay, by serving as a central publication venue for these topics.{{Cite web |url=https://fanlore.org/wiki/Organization_for_Transformative_Works |title=Organization for Transformative Works - Fanlore |website=fanlore.org |access-date=2019-10-17}} Coppa states that many second-wave fan fiction scholars, such as herself, started to publish in Transformative Works and Cultures and that the journal has "nurtured a new wave of scholars".{{cite book |author=Francesca Coppa |title=The Fanfiction Reader: Folk Tales for the Digital Age |page=17 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |year=2017 |isbn=9780472053483 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S9xCDgAAQBAJ}} Via a number of articles, the journal has had a hand in helping to spread Jenkins, Sam Ford, and Joshua Green's idea of "spreadable media".{{cite web |title=Spreadable Media in Transformative Works and Cultures |url=http://spreadablemedia.org/2014/11/24/spreadable-media-in-transformative-works-and-cultures/ |publisher=spreadablemedia.com |author1=Jenkins, Henry |author2=Ford, Sam |author3=Green, Joshua|access-date=October 24, 2016}}

{{Reflist}}

{{wikinews|FanFiction.Net adult content purge felt across fandom two weeks on}}

• {{official website|1=https://www.transformativeworks.org/|2=Organization for Transformative Works}}
• [https://archiveofourown.org/ Archive of Our Own] (AO3)
• [http://fanhackers.tumblr.com/ Fanhackers]
• [http://fanlore.org/wiki/Main_Page Fanlore] (wiki)
• [http://opendoors.transformativeworks.org/ Open Doors]
• [http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc Transformative Works and Cultures]
• [https://www.press.umich.edu/10069132/vidding Vidding] (6 short documentaries, directed by Francesca Coppa)
• [http://aspace.lib.uiowa.edu/repositories/2/resources/324 OTW Fanzine and Fan Fiction Collection at the University of Iowa Libraries]

{{Intellectual property activism}}

{{Fandom}}

{{Fan fiction}}

{{E-book digital distribution platforms}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Organizations established in 2007

Category:Intellectual property activism

Category:Fan labor

Category:Fan fiction

Category:Non-profit organizations based in New York City

Category:2007 establishments in New York City

Category:Internet properties established in 2007

Category:Hugo Award winners

Category:Academic journals established in 2008

Category:Creative Commons Attribution-licensed journals

Category:English-language journals