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Fandom & Copyright
This week’s lecture was partially based around copyright. An interesting idea that was sparked from this was the implications of the existence of fandoms in copyright law, as these are groups whose works are reliant upon copyrighted material, and indeed wholly predicated upon their existence. Fandom works function under the concept of fair dealing, falling into the category of parody and satire. They still however require a high level of ‘transformation’ in order to function as fair trade works; that is, they have to be changed enough, or have provided enough additional meaning to exist as a separate work.
![11400047_10203677895782369_269053511_n](http://www.mediafactory.org.au/anna-miers/files/2016/05/11400047_10203677895782369_269053511_n-1qb0txz.gif)
Although there are many instances wherein members of fandoms could have their works called into question, for the most part, fandoms are generally left alone by companies, as through the reimagining, continuation or general excitement present in the works they create, fandoms serve to promote companies’ brands, and thereby increase revenue. Only in instances wherein fan-made works serve to generate their own profit, do companies step in, generally under the guise of defamation or genuine intellectual property rights. For example, LucasFilm threatening to sue a high powered laser manufacturer that had been hailed as making a real life light sabre.
![11247219_10155614059065177_850790335_n](http://www.mediafactory.org.au/anna-miers/files/2016/05/11247219_10155614059065177_850790335_n-1rjnjva.gif)
![12051887_137359036624984_864822893_n](http://www.mediafactory.org.au/anna-miers/files/2016/05/12051887_137359036624984_864822893_n-1j3rcf9.gif)