To be fair, I'm not exactly open that I write fanfic either, and I write gen for heaven's sake.
I work in the publishing field where copyright is A VERY BIG DEAL, so if it came out that I cheerfully violate copyrights on a regular basis even though the copyright holder is cool with it, there's a shot the consequences for me wouldn't be pleasant.
But as I pointed out above: it's a commercial concern and not a civil right concern. A lot of the problem is that fanfic and other fan art falls into a somewhat grey area where it only matters if the copyright holder asserts their ownership against it. I know other countries handle the issue differently (Japan, for start). Also, acceptance of fan art is currently in flux, where you're seeing it more in the mainstream, but full acceptance isn't there yet.
Do I think at some point there'll be wider acceptance of it as more and more people find out what it is? Probably. Do I think OTW is the way to go? Like you, I'm not convinced and also fear that it may make things worse. I'd rather it diffuse and go slow, because I'm afraid that pushing for too much too fast would land us into an RIAA scenario, and that's one place we don't want to go.
no subject
I work in the publishing field where copyright is A VERY BIG DEAL, so if it came out that I cheerfully violate copyrights on a regular basis even though the copyright holder is cool with it, there's a shot the consequences for me wouldn't be pleasant.
But as I pointed out above: it's a commercial concern and not a civil right concern. A lot of the problem is that fanfic and other fan art falls into a somewhat grey area where it only matters if the copyright holder asserts their ownership against it. I know other countries handle the issue differently (Japan, for start). Also, acceptance of fan art is currently in flux, where you're seeing it more in the mainstream, but full acceptance isn't there yet.
Do I think at some point there'll be wider acceptance of it as more and more people find out what it is? Probably. Do I think OTW is the way to go? Like you, I'm not convinced and also fear that it may make things worse. I'd rather it diffuse and go slow, because I'm afraid that pushing for too much too fast would land us into an RIAA scenario, and that's one place we don't want to go.