Architecture and Morality
Architecture and Morality
Transformative Works, Transforming Fans
Fan fiction, a practice that sometimes attracts the ire of copyright holders, but can often lay a strong claim to fair use, is neither clearly lawful nor unlawful. Untroubled by the legal status of their creations, fans write stories, draw pictures, make movies, remix existing content, and share their works with the broader community. This practice is as communal as it is creative, and requires spaces where fan fiction authors can come together to disseminate works, connect, and collaborate. In this chapter, Rebecca Tushnet demonstrates the importance of architecture in fostering online communities. Despite being touched by copyright law, media fandom is low-IP and generally governed by the norms of its community. Their concepts of right and wrong, often subject to debate, are increasingly built into the architecture of online platforms. And those platforms, in turn, exert a significant impact on creativity without relying on law.
Keywords: intellectual property, law, norms, copyright, creativity, fan fiction, fair use, community, platforms, fandom
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