Pretty Poison

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https://www.transformativeworks.org/otw-signal-august-2026/

https://www.transformativeworks.org/?p=286215

Every month in OTW Signal, we take a look at stories that connect to the OTW’s mission and projects, including issues related to legal matters, technology, academia, fannish history and preservation issues of fandom, fan culture, and transformative works.

In the News

The recent swell of traditionally published novels with roots in fanfiction has left many questioning the legality of commercialized fanworks. In The romance of fair use and fiction, Rutgers Law student and OTW documentation volunteer Ally Duong explains how copyright law protects such novels—and why.

Fanfiction culture has proved fertile ground for artistic expression. Copyright law nurtures that creativity by protecting an author’s particular expression rather than the underlying ideas. Humans have always retold familiar stories. Shakespeare borrowed plots. West Side Story reworked Romeo and Juliet. Countless romances owe something to Pride and Prejudice. Copyright does not demand that each new book emerge from a cultural vacuum. If it did, creativity would be stifled and expression severely limited on the grounds that practically no story is entirely original.

But Duong notes that while copyright law “leaves little doubt that such books are legal to sell”, legal tension between fanfiction and traditional publishing persists.

So is the case closed on traditionally publishing fanfiction? Probably not, because publishers are pushing the envelope, particularly with the latest trend of reworked Dramione fanfiction, beginning in 2025 and now in full swing. … Publishers are using marketing tactics that directly target Dramione fans, riding the coattails of the Harry Potter intellectual property, with some cover designs and promotional materials winking at the pairing through silver-haired men, curly-haired women, and so on.

Regardless of how courts might ultimately judge these blurred boundaries, Duong believes that what draws readers to these novels isn’t the Harry Potter franchise itself, but the enemies-to-lovers romance. They conclude that “reworked fanfiction, fueled by nerdy devotion, [has] rightfully found a place on bookshelves and in readers’ hearts.”

In another enemies-to-lovers story, Your Fancam Is Their Marketing Plan examines how fan edits are winning over corporate hearts.

Studios are no longer ignoring fandom—now, they pursue it. … Yet, this new relationship has blurred a boundary that once defined fandom culture. Fan works may slowly come to form the bedrock of the entertainment industry’s marketing and PR machine, but it once began as an independent, often oppositional, form of participation.

In the early days of the internet, increased visibility of fannish activities drew an adversarial corporate eye. Now, as short, punchy fan edits reach millions via TikTok and other social media platforms, the paradigm is shifting. “Fan editors are getting hired, fan edits are shaping marketing campaigns”—a courtship some fans experience as validation, violation, or both.

[Derek, an avid fan editor] also sees the growing acceptance of fandom as a positive change. “There can be a tendency for studio execs or critics to look down upon fans,” he says. “News flash, [fandom] is very human. This is how people engage with things.”

However, he worries about what happens when corporate interests become too embedded in fan spaces.

“You have studio-commissioned fan edits versus people who are still doing this for the love of the game,” he says. “It becomes less of a democratic system of people sharing what they like and more of an extension of the studio marketing.”

The article notes that “the OTW explicitly emerged in response to concerns about commercialization and corporate control over fan creativity.” And as fandom adapts to a changing landscape, the OTW remains steadfastly by fans, for fans.

OTW Tips

As internet culture evolves, so does the OTW’s social media presence—as of June, the OTW can be found on RedNote! Over the past two years, we’ve also added TikTok and Bluesky accounts.

In July, we said a fond farewell to our LiveJournal account. First established in May 2007—making it the oldest OTW social media account—it will remain accessible as an archive of the news and discussion that was shared there.

For a full list of places we’re active, check out Where to Find Us!

We want your suggestions for the next OTW Signal post! If you know of an essay, video, article, podcast, or news story you think we should know about, send us a link. We are looking for content in all languages! Submitting a link doesn’t guarantee that it will be included in an OTW post, and inclusion of a link doesn’t mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

https://www.transformativeworks.org/otw-signal-august-2026/

https://www.transformativeworks.org/?p=286215