Episode 30: The Episode of Dubious Legality—Betsy Rosenblatt, the OTW, and Fanworks

Fandom Summer is upon us!

To kick it off, Babes Ardy, Lyndsay, Taylor and Amy chat it up with Betsy Rosenblatt, who works with the Legal committee of the Organization for Transformative Works.

The OTW runs a lot of fandom-based projects, including the Archive of our Own, a scholarly journal about fan cultures, and a fandom wiki—and they also provide legal advice and advocacy for and on behalf of fannish creators, which is where Betsy (and people like her on the committee) comes in.

We talk to her about the legal issues surrounding fanworks, how much trouble they can potentially get you into, and we discuss listener questions such as the reasons why people create them in the first place, and what it is that makes fandoms like Sherlock Holmes so enduring. Also, we really want to know: what drove her to invest much of her time in this project and how successful is it?

The answer to all these questions lies but a click and a listen away. Enjoy, and let us know your own thoughts on these issues, if you feel so inclined—we love getting listener mail :)

How Did Sherlock Holmes Pave the Way for 50 Shades of Grey?

The fab folks at PBS Idea Channel just put up this video on how Sherlock Holmes started the fanfiction craze. We're an epic sort of fandom... just upset it was 50 Shades that got the big break!

You've probably heard of the risque novel "50 Shades of Grey" since it's now the best selling paperback of all time. But you may not know that it's Twilight fan fiction! It seems shocking that a fan fiction novel has become so popular, but 50 Shades isn't the first book to break through the fan community boundaries into mainstream culture. Over 100 years ago, Sherlock Holmes' popularity created a profusion of well received fan fiction. It allowed authors from amateur to professional to explore the world originally created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and pave the way for other future fan fiction canons, including Star Wars, Harry Potter, and yes, 50 Shades of Grey.