OTW Fannews: Fans Getting Informed

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• When Amazon launched Kindle Worlds, OTW Legal offered advice to fans about its terms. Now, the OTW's ally organization, New Media Rights, has also examined the pros and cons of its publishing agreement with the post "Fine print to plain english: things to look out for as a Kindle World author."
• The Bookseller's feature on author Rainbow Rowell's fanfiction past had an interesting response from J.K. Rowling’s literary agency, which set out guidelines for writers. "Our view on Harry Potter fan fiction is broadly that it should be non-commercial and should also not be distributed through commercial websites. Writers should write under their own name and not as J K Rowling. Content should not be inappropriate – also any content not suitable for young readers should be marked as age restricted.”
• Jennifer Kate Stuller made available her keynote presentation on lessons learned from Whedonverse activism. "[T]his was the most personal presentation I’ve ever given, and I shared both strengths and vulnerabilities that I haven’t shared in a public forum before – doing so with the hope that personal braveries would have a communal impact. I looked out and saw a sea of tissues (and kerchiefs!) being drawn from bags and pockets. Hands and sleeves wiping eyes and noses. I was overwhelmed by your response (and might have missed a couple of sentences). More than that, your collective willingness to share your braveries, your sadnesses, your joys, your yearnings for connections and manifestations of love with me in that space proved what Tanya emphasized in her opening remarks – 'We’re here because of each other.'"
• OTW Fan Video & Multimedia Chair Tisha Turk will be helping fans and the general public become more informed thanks to new award funding. "Despite the fact that vidding has been around for decades, little academic scholarship exists on the subject. Turk’s work will explore the rhetorical effects of images and music in vids, expanding and contributing to an underrepresented area of fan studies. Her findings will lead to a greater understanding of how media fans critically interact with digital entertainment."

What lessons do you think need to be shared with fandom? Write about them in Fanlore! Contributions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, podcast, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent OTW Fannews post. Links are welcome in all languages! Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a Fannews post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.