Legally Fan Based

About Legally Fan Based

Legally Fan Based focuses on the intersection of copyright law and "fan-based" activities, a class of ostensible infringement whose unique characteristics actually further the dual purposes of copyright. While some copyright holders have begun to recognize the potential benefits of fan-based activities, many others continue to view them as one and the same with other harmful forms of infringement, and in that way do themselves and the public at large a great disservice. This blog aims to highlight the ways in which fan-based activities benefit all parties concerned--original creator, copyright holder, fan-authors, and general public alike--in the hope that U.S. copyright law will one day recognize fan-based activities for what they really are.

Fan-Based Reading List:

Sean Kirkpatrick, Comment, Like Holding a Bird: What the Prevalence of Fansubbing Can Teach Us About the Use of Strategic Selective Copyright Enforcement, 21 Temp. Envtl. L. & Tech. J. 131 (2003).

Sean Leonard, Celebrating Two Decades of Unlawful Progress: Fan Distribution, Proselytization Commons, and the Explosive Growth of Japanese Animation, 12 UCLA Ent. L. Rev. 189 (2005).

Salil Mehra, Copyright and Comics in Japan: Does Law Explain Why All the Cartoons My Kid Watches Are Japanese Imports?, 55 Rutgers L. Rev. 155, 160 (2002)

Jaime E. Muscar, Note, A Winner is Who? Fair Use and the Online Distribution of Manga and Video Game Fan Translations, 9 Vand. J. Ent. & Tech. L. 223, 225 (2006).

Nathaniel T. Noda, Perpetuating Cultures: What Fan-Based Activities Can Teach Us About Intangible Cultural Property, 44Creighton L. Rev. 429 (2011).

Nathaniel T. Noda, Copyrights Retold: How Interpretive Rights Foster Creativity and Justify Fan-Based Activities, 20 Seton Hall J. Sports & Ent. L.131 (2010), reprinted at 57 J. Copyright Soc'y USA 987 (2010).

Nathaniel T. Noda, When Holding On Means Letting Go: Why Fair Use Should Extend to Fan-Based Activities, 5 U. Denver Sports & Ent. L.J. 64 (2008).