On the Transformativity of Fanworks
Feb. 10th, 2010 07:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alixtiiMy naive intuition is that podfic falls somewhere between remixing or otherwise writing fanfic of fanfic (which I most strongly maintain does not require permission) and archiving fic (which does, generally). Now while all the podfic meta I've ever read stresses the transformativeness of podfic, that's not necessarily at odds with my naive intuition. After all, I don't think I've ever heard anyone's describing OTW's mandate as including unlicensed audiobooks.
So I don't know.
And so, in the spirit of the original discussion post, a poll.
On a scale of 0 and 10, with 0 being "not at all transformative" and 10 being "the most transformative I can possibly imagine," how transformative is fanfiction as a genre?
Mean: 7.42 Median: 8 Std. Dev 1.87
| 0 | 0 (0.0%) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 (0.0%) | |
| 2 | 0 (0.0%) | |
| 3 | 3 (7.0%) | |
| 4 | 0 (0.0%) | |
| 5 | 5 (11.6%) | |
| 6 | 2 (4.7%) | |
| 7 | 8 (18.6%) | |
| 8 | 14 (32.6%) | |
| 9 | 5 (11.6%) | |
| 10 | 6 (14.0%) |
On a scale of 0 and 10, with 0 being "not at all transformative" and 10 being "the most transformative I can possibly imagine," how transformative (in relation to the original fic, not the canon) is podfic as a genre?
Mean: 3.86 Median: 4 Std. Dev 1.89
| 0 | 0 (0.0%) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 (11.6%) | |
| 2 | 6 (14.0%) | |
| 3 | 10 (23.3%) | |
| 4 | 5 (11.6%) | |
| 5 | 9 (20.9%) | |
| 6 | 4 (9.3%) | |
| 7 | 2 (4.7%) | |
| 8 | 2 (4.7%) | |
| 9 | 0 (0.0%) | |
| 10 | 0 (0.0%) |
When taken as genres, podfic is ___ transformative when compared to fanfiction.
On a scale of 0 and 10, with 0 being "not at all transformative" and 10 being "the most transformative I can possibly imagine," how transformative (in relation to the remixed fic, not the canon) are fanfiction remixes as a genre?
Mean: 7.07 Median: 7 Std. Dev 1.61
| 0 | 0 (0.0%) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 (0.0%) | |
| 2 | 0 (0.0%) | |
| 3 | 1 (2.4%) | |
| 4 | 1 (2.4%) | |
| 5 | 5 (12.2%) | |
| 6 | 8 (19.5%) | |
| 7 | 8 (19.5%) | |
| 8 | 11 (26.8%) | |
| 9 | 4 (9.8%) | |
| 10 | 3 (7.3%) |
When taken as genres, fanfiction remixes are ___ transformative when compared to fics which are not remixes.
When taken as genres, podfics are ___ transformative when compared to fanfiction remixes.
On a scale of 0 and 10, with 0 being "not at all transformative" and 10 being "the most transformative I can possibly imagine," how transformative are fanvids as a genre, in relation to the images?
Mean: 7.33 Median: 8 Std. Dev 1.83
| 0 | 0 (0.0%) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 (0.0%) | |
| 2 | 1 (2.4%) | |
| 3 | 1 (2.4%) | |
| 4 | 1 (2.4%) | |
| 5 | 4 (9.5%) | |
| 6 | 3 (7.1%) | |
| 7 | 10 (23.8%) | |
| 8 | 12 (28.6%) | |
| 9 | 5 (11.9%) | |
| 10 | 5 (11.9%) |
On a scale of 0 and 10, with 0 being "not at all transformative" and 10 being "the most transformative I can possibly imagine," how transformative are fanvids as a genre, in relation to the music?
Mean: 5.34 Median: 6 Std. Dev 2.81
| 0 | 2 (4.9%) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 (7.3%) | |
| 2 | 3 (7.3%) | |
| 3 | 5 (12.2%) | |
| 4 | 1 (2.4%) | |
| 5 | 5 (12.2%) | |
| 6 | 7 (17.1%) | |
| 7 | 4 (9.8%) | |
| 8 | 5 (12.2%) | |
| 9 | 4 (9.8%) | |
| 10 | 2 (4.9%) |
On a scale of 0 and 10, with 0 being "not at all transformative" and 10 being "the most transformative I can possibly imagine," how transformative is (static) fanart (other than photomanipulations) as a genre?
Mean: 6.68 Median: 7 Std. Dev 2.27
| 0 | 0 (0.0%) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 (4.5%) | |
| 2 | 0 (0.0%) | |
| 3 | 2 (4.5%) | |
| 4 | 4 (9.1%) | |
| 5 | 3 (6.8%) | |
| 6 | 10 (22.7%) | |
| 7 | 3 (6.8%) | |
| 8 | 10 (22.7%) | |
| 9 | 6 (13.6%) | |
| 10 | 4 (9.1%) |
On a scale of 0 and 10, with 0 being "not at all transformative" and 10 being "the most transformative I can possibly imagine," how transformative are manips as a genre?
Mean: 6.62 Median: 7 Std. Dev 2.30
| 0 | 0 (0.0%) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 (0.0%) | |
| 2 | 3 (7.1%) | |
| 3 | 2 (4.8%) | |
| 4 | 3 (7.1%) | |
| 5 | 6 (14.3%) | |
| 6 | 3 (7.1%) | |
| 7 | 7 (16.7%) | |
| 8 | 10 (23.8%) | |
| 9 | 3 (7.1%) | |
| 10 | 5 (11.9%) |
Is there a specific threshold of transformativity which is required to create fanworks without the original works' creators' permission?
If so, what is that threshold?
Mean: 3.69 Median: 4.5 Std. Dev 2.17
| 0 | 3 (18.8%) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 (0.0%) | |
| 2 | 1 (6.2%) | |
| 3 | 3 (18.8%) | |
| 4 | 1 (6.2%) | |
| 5 | 5 (31.2%) | |
| 6 | 2 (12.5%) | |
| 7 | 1 (6.2%) | |
| 8 | 0 (0.0%) | |
| 9 | 0 (0.0%) | |
| 10 | 0 (0.0%) |
From the OTW FAQ: "A transformative use is one that, in the words of the U.S. Supreme Court, 'adds something new, with a further purpose or different character, altering the [source] with new expression, meaning, or message.' A story from Voldemort's perspective is transformative, so is a story about a pop star that illustrates something about current attitudes toward celebrity or sexuality."
Evaluate a genre's transformativity as a genre in whatever way makes sense to you, whether it is by singling out something you think is essential about that genre or by just taking all the fics you've read in a genre and taking their average transformativity.
Obviously the numbers you come up with will be somewhat arbitrary, and the whole process a bit overly schematic, but hopefully as an exercise it'll prove enlightening. If not, still a poll! Polls are fun! (Sorry for the lack of ticky boxes.)
(no subject)
Date: 2010-02-10 01:54 pm (UTC)Naturally the OTW wants to define "transformative" as broadly as possible, but if we look at examples - like the audiobooks you mentioned - of transformative-ish works in the wild, then the extent to which "transformation" = "no longer affected by copyright" is much more restricted. For example, adding "a new expression, meaning or message" doesn't count as "transformative" when it comes to putting on plays. Now matter how radical your production, no matter how brilliantly you read against to the text, to produce a pacifist Henry V, or a psychopathic Hamlet, you're still expected to pay the playwright or translator whose text your production is based on (assuming they're still in copyright, of course). Interestingly, you cannot put a copyright on production details - these fall under "ideas" rather than "execution", so it's perfectly legal to nick another director's brilliant solutions to a staging difficulty, or a wonderful set.
This being the case, I'm inclined to think that manips, vids and podfics are less transformative than fanfic, because fic merely uses ideas, whereas vids etc. use actual material that someone else has already produced.
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Date: 2012-05-05 06:54 pm (UTC)