alias_sqbr

You don't at all come across as curt, just interested.

It seems the main contention you have is this: "And I realise OTW can't cover everything, I'd just feel happier if I knew what was and wasn't covered."

So would I... except I do worry that if the OTW makes that kind of statement too early it will exclude fans unnecessarily, and that is the last thing the Organisation wants to do.

I understand why fandom wants the OTW to pin down exactly what will and won't be covered -- so that people can decide if they are included or not, and hold us to our word. Both reasonable things, especially in the face of corporate entities who are renowned for their weasel-word ways.

The problem the OTW faces is that we won't know what will fall under the Organisation's umbrella when it comes to the transformative works on the fringe of our charter until several things have happened, such as: the formation of our Terms of Service, which will be done in consultation with the community, as we plan to open the drafts for public comment; a real fan comes to us for help with an actual borderline case; and we have a better idea of what our yearly budget will be.

For instance, despite all our plans, it may turn out that we will flat-out not be able to afford to offer more than a referral to another body, such as the EFF, when it comes to legal matters.

The biggest problem, though, is that the "transformative works" part of fandom is hard to pin down and define. Believe me, we have been trying.

By their very nature, transformative fanworks tend to break boundaries and celebrate differences. The OTW values that -- it's certainly one of the things I love best about fanfic -- but how on earth does the OTW describe the breadth of fanworks of this nature, let alone weigh in on what "counts" and what doesn't? And how does the OTW do so, while still making it clear that it's not here to offer services to pro-writers, or other parts of fandom that already have infrastructure (like conventions, which often have WASFFs or whatever), or fans who may be creating art, but not art that is playing with works in active copyright/trademark (or libel/slander in the case of RPF), and so on?

Wherever the OTW draws the line (a metaphor problematic in itself, as fandom seems more like overlapping circles in a venn diagram to me, with the same fan often being both a transformative worker and, say, a convention fan), there will undoubtedly be a fan who is creating something that exists outside of the "line" and yet is still creating the kind of thing the OTW wants to welcome into the Archive.

For all of these reasons, the definition of the OTW's mission is something that will undoubtedly be reconsidered regularly throughout the lifetime of the Organisation, no matter how long that ends up being. But I don't think there will ever be a simple answer to your question, just due to the nature of fandom and fanworks.

Of course, if you have ideas about how this dilemma can be resolved, please do contact the Community Relations committee and let them know you want to get involved. That's the beauty of this kind of Organisation -- everyone working for the OTW is a fan, and has the same kinds of concerns you do. The Content Committee isn't something I'm actively involved with at the moment, but I know they have looked for volunteers from time to time to help with the ToS, so there may well be a way you can get more actively involved.

Or, if you don't have time to get involved, you could still offer your own suggestions. Email them to Community Relations (comrel@transformativeworks.org), or talk to me about them next time we meet and I can pass them on.