Forums / Discussion / Serious Debate

In the fall of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, I decided to make this thread.

The TPP was the latest of many bills that failed, a series that was feared because of certain regulations that would had killed fandom, research and news on the internet and possibility the internet period. Bred from a paranoia spurred by the first of this series of legislation, a set of bills called the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act. With that said, the latest is not the final. A possibility of renegotiating NAFTA is possible, the TTIP is still at large and more bills would likely come soon after.

So I want to ask how important do you think Fanwork and Fandom are in the grand scheme of things, if you think it should be officially legalized or if it is detrimental to culture in the long run. And also how important do you think it is relative to economic or civil issues?

tl;dr Is Fandom a irreplaceable part of pop culture that should be protected?

I think fanwork/parody is vital to getting people started in the creative process.

I'm fairly certain most, if not all that create art (be it writing, drawing, filming, etc.) start with creating fanworks. Many famous manga artists start out drawing doujinshi (often hentai). Musicians play cover songs before they get to making their own music. Fan art is drawn by aspiring artists. Hell, a pretty substantial source of new hires for Valve is from people that make fanworks because it's a good way to scout talent. People like talking about the things that, well they like.

The fact that fan works were even under fire in the first place is absurd to me.

It should be pointed out that the TPP is markedly different from the SOPA.

The most controversial aspect of SOPA was the effective removal of the "safe harbor" policy introduced by the DMCA. Under SOPA, entire websites could be taken down due to the presence of copyright-infringing material, potentially leading to the removal of giants like Youtube or Wikipedia.

The TPP does not do this, and indeed mostly continues the policies of the DMCA. If you are American, the passage of the TPP will – as it stands now – have very little impact on your experience of copyright law. What the TPP effectively does is that it "exports" America's current laws to its partners in the agreement, ensuring uniformity. It does very little to give these laws more teeth as SOPA would have done, although there is some controversy over whether its language bars transitory copies. The relative lack of restricted freedoms for American consumers and businesses was a significant reason why companies like Google opposed SOPA but supports the TPP.

Fanworks are almost as important to enjoying a franchise as the main work in my opinion. Ask any Brony/Former-Brony and they will tell you that a lot of the stuff fans created were more enjoyable than the actual show. Same with things like Pokemon and it's various parody comics.

Which is another word I would like to bring up. Parody. Where is the line between a fancomic and a parody work? Parodies are protected for a reason, they offer critique to what they parody in an enjoyable and accessible way. To ban parody is to ban easily accessible critique.

A lot of times, people find shows/games/movies through fanworks. I first found Minecraft through a LetsPlay, same with KSP, Freedom Planet and Worms. The thing to understand is that fanworks don't, in anyway, hurt or reduce the sales of the original work. No one is going to read VGCats "Super Effective" comic and go "Welp, I got the whole Pokemon experience, guess I don't need to buy the games!"

A lot of game companies and show creators understand that fanworks are pretty much free advertising, and also a way for people to keep themselves interested in works between release dates so they keep coming back. I feel I might have forgotten to keep up with Steven Universe if it wasn't for it's various fancomics keeping me interested during the months long hiatus. The ability for fans to create things to share their love for a work is what helps keep the love of that work alive, keep people interested and even get new people into the fandom. I say it's very important.

The TPP Failed?

A year's worth of stress finally relieved.

But personally, I feel that a fandom is important to keep protected. One of the major positives of fandom is its ability to promote a product. Trying to shut fanwork is like trying to take away those fans. So therefore, I think that the right to create fanwork should be to the point before that work attempts to profit, or claim as actual material.

>The TPP Failed?

Mostly, but apparently there is an attempt to push it before Obama's term is over, on the other hand, some of the nations involved seem a little intimidated by Trump and had been rendered more open to compromise. Its chances are slim.

if you want to learn more try this thread: https://knowyourmeme.com/forums/general/topics/49981-the-trans-pacific-partnership-is-dead

Vitally important. Fan works help to keep a fandom alive and well during the droughts between new official content, creates free advertising for the work which can help the fandom grow, can bring fandoms together and introduce folks to new works through fan crossovers, allows fan artists and writers to get through the rough stages of practicing by making content for something they're pasionate about, and spurs people's creativity to make original works themselves and kick off the process all over again.