Reflection Blog #5: The Freedom to Distribute Ponies

A participatory culture formed around specific fandoms, where members distribute creations related to copyrighted material, tends to raise legal issues sooner or later. Amid an era where the Web 2.0 technologies discussed by Michael Zimmer (2013) mean a breakdown of barriers or looser standards as to what gets published on-line, the corporate ownership of a franchise like My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic had the potential to limit what works fans could share on-line.

In her lecture on Ethical Issues and the Information Seeker, Debbie Hansen (2014) touched on the need to respect authorial rights additionally enforced by the US Copyright Law—though she focused on that issue within a library setting, where the concept of “fair use” allowed information processionals to duplicate or share texts without obtaining the copyright owner’s permission. But this takes on interesting implications in terms of what can circulate on-line, including when people use the intellectual property established by a company as a template for fan creations.

When My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic premiered, most soon-to-be fans didn’t discover or watch the first few episodes on the Hub Network or its website. Instead, individuals who had learned about MLP: FIM and wanted to share the show recorded and posted the clips of, and full episodes onto on-line channels like Youtube.com or Hulu.com. They submitted links that led to these postings on public forums, sent them in emails to friends, etc.

In fact, this was how my brother and I watched the first season. A dear friend of ours sent an email urging us to watch this incredible series he had discovered. And by the time we’d watched ten episodes, almost back-to-back, we had to admit our enjoyment of it.

Youtube.com has often taken down shows distributed in this way, citing the infringement of its policies (often on behalf of the copyright owner).

Yet what made a big difference, and probably helped the MLP fan base to continue expanding, was the fact that Hasbro chose not to take down the episode postings. In fact, they encouraged the practice—even though they couldn’t have foreseen the massive outpouring of fans from various backgrounds and age groups for the show. If Hasbro had chosen to restrict the ability for people to watch MLP: FIM at that time to a narrower selection of conduits, such as the Hub Website or paid video mediums, a fan base would still have flourished but perhaps at a slower pace. Or, users might have sought to subvert the restrictions by other means to share content.

This is by no means an argument that copyright holders should admit to a lack of control over their creations or allow people to post protected content that violates the law. As argued by Hansen, the need to respect authorial ownership within the bounds of fair use is an ethical practice endorsed in a library, and this is just as true elsewhere.

In the case of the MLP: FIM fan base, Hasbro did grant that permission by letting fans circulate materials related to their show and distribute new creations. They never really came out and endorsed it publicly—although due to a mixture of the creators’ interactions with fans in that Web 2.0 environment and what this meant for the show’s ratings or earnings, the move actually served as a type of sly marketing tactic.   

The articles covered in last week’s, and this week’s lecture stress how legal matters and ethics can complicate how information professionals deal with issues like the distribution of content or materials. They touch on the need for intellectual freedom, and some of the restrictions or bands various sources have tried to place on the accessibility of different texts—while making the fine distinction on the right for users to receive information (Dresang, 2006).

But given Hasbro’s reaction, and how the fan base and their creations thrive on-line, it seems the type of mutual consent to share intellectual property with MLP: FIM exemplifies how copyright holders and users might increasingly come to interact on the Internet.

References:

·         Debbie, H. (2014). Ethical Issues and the Information Seeker. Retrieved from: https://sjsu.instructure.com/courses/1117618/files/34242003/download?verifier=mc7nxBK5jp5knHCLvI1zuFdxYErpAHtYTuiFi8Gi&wrap=1

·         Dresang, E. (2006). Intellectual freedom and libraries: Complexity and change in the twenty-first-century digital environment. Library Quarterly, 76(2), 169-192.  http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=llf&AN=22509856&site=ehost-live (Links to an external site.)

·         Zimmer, M. (2013). Assessing the treatment of patron privacy in Library 2.0 literature. Information Technology & Libraries, 32(2). http://ejournals.bc.edu/ojs/index.php/ital/article/view/3420 (Links to an external site.)

Dear Friends in LIBR 200,

Hi. I am writing this blog post to you because today I learned an important lesson about making decisions. For LIBR 200, Professor Greenblatt asked for each one of us to find an exemplary information community to research for valuable experience (while preparing for our final class paper).

The very first possibility to occur to me was Equestria Daily, since this was a site to which I'd been dedicated (as a respectful lurker) over several months. Although I've also been an ardent fan of the show ever since the four incarnation aired (introduced to me by none other than my witty boyfriend). It was a place where creativity reigned, alongside an active breakdown of gender and various other stereotypes.

So I picked that and announced my decision to do it.

At the same time, because creative writing is also my passion, the prospect of National Novel Writing Month was also tempting. That contest helped me to explore my love for that craft in a new way, and the Office of Lights and Letters has done a great deal to promote literacy programs for people of all ages and backgrounds.

The choice was so hard, and in true "heat of the moment" style (this was quite a literal thing as well, since it's so muggy where I live right now), I decided to change my information community to National Novel Writing Month.

Wisely, Professor Greenblatt expressed some concern over whether there were enough scholary or peer-reviewed articles to use concerning NaNoWriMo, alongside making sure there were members of that information community who I could interview.

The latter would have been fine, since there were various writers on the site with whom I could interact if needed. 

But the former proved far more difficult to manage, especially when I began searching through the articles on Google Scholar and elsewhere. I even got into an on-line chat session with a librarian at the King Library to look through the various databases available for possible articles, like JSTOR and Project Muse.
Note: For your reference, here is the webpage of SJSU databases in question: http://library.calstate.edu/sanjose/databases

Unfortunately, I had no luck finding specific articles for NaNoWriMo (most of the ones I did find were more personal accounts than scholarly works).

This got me to thinking that my first choice of Equestria Daily was, in reality, probably the best choice for me to make. A lot of creativity happens there, including creative writing. They even have an event that mimics National Novel Writing Month, although the subject must be (of course) MLP-related. So it would be a win/win situation.

I should have checked out what academic resources were available to support my research for each information community.

With this in mind, here is a reiteration of why Equestria Daily fulfills the requirements for a good information community, with a slight addition at the end:

1. Exploits the information sharing qualities of technology

Equestria Daily functions as a website and virtual environment for any visitors. The homepage has a stream of postings, each labeled according to the topic they cover. However, the site also makes good use of other social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook to allow community members different ways to access or contribute information.

2. Collaboration among diverse groups

On Equestria Daily, users participate in the community by contributing fan creations, arranging meet-ups at conventions related to MLP, and comment on each other’s work in constructive and genial manner. These submissions clearly come from people who handle similar content in new ways (such as relationships between different characters, possible story lines, and story concepts based on an MLP framework) but also hail from a variety of lifestyles and locations. 

 

3. Formation around user needs

The homepage for Equestria Daily contained all the postings that have ever been placed there. However, there are also nicely labeled sections so visitors can see materials related to specific interests, such as fan art, comics (fan and official), music, etc. All the pages contain a side bar containing the hottest or biggest topics currently available on the site, and even a countdown clock to events like the release of comic issues or site events.

 

4. Helps to overcome trust barriers

I am more of a lurker at this point on the Equestria Daily site, checking it on occasion to see what new things are afoot (or “ahoof”, as the information community there might say). But the great thing about Equestria Daily is the level of privacy afforded to visitors and even contributors. Those who comment on any postings can do so anonymously, only volunteering more personal information when they choose. Even most contributors to the site remain largely unknown, except for the works they produce, or their actions within the fan community as a whole.

 

5. Fosters social connectedness

One wonderful thing about Equestria Daily is the friendly community atmosphere it fosters. The MLP fans who contribute and comment on different resources available are a kind and understanding group. This is because the show they follow emphases this same compassion and diversity, which is why many of them came to the series in the first place. Also, due to how pertinent the strong storytelling, characters, and animation are for fans, Equestria Daily tends to focus on encouraging these creative aspects of the fan base. So various artists can discuss their works and get stronger, mingle with other fans, and form friendships.

6. Has Specific Academic/Scholarly/Peer-Reviewed Articles for Additional Support

Although Equestria Daily is, in itself, a resource for the users who participate in the information community. There are also various scholarly articles elsewhere anaylzing or examining the MLP fanbase, and the show's impact on various media and cultural norms.

In the future, I will make sure I can access or gather all the information required before making a decision for a class project. Also, I should have more confidence in my decisions and not change them without careful consideration. That way, those who hear or read my choices won't get confused as to where I stand.

Thank you.

Your Faithful Friend and Fellow Student,

Joyce Jacobo


  


 
 

LIBR 200 Introduction

Hello!

I'm Joyce Jacobo, and it is pleasure to participate in LIBR 200 at San Jose State University. Last fall, getting adjusted to the D2L website and first creating this blog for LIBR 203 was quite an experience. And then I wound up taking some time off due to financial and situational issues, only to discover D2L was no longer in use when returning to the program.

Whew! But it goes to show how swiftly technology can move, and how important it is for us as up-and-coming information professionals to keep on top of all these advancements.

Coming from the remote countryside, where it takes a lot of effort to connect with people in even the local comunity (there is a lot of space between homes here), among the many things I'd like to accomplish is to be able to interact with a variety of individuals throughout the world. It would also be nice to see how library science can help me to move beyond my present boundaries and into the world, virtually and physical.

Storytelling means a great deal to me. I am a creative writer, interested in rare books, preservation techniques, and how technology can help future generations to foster a love for literature and learning. In this way, I'm thinking of becoming a special collections, children's, or academic librarian. Either that, or an archivist--because I have had experience volunteering in the archives at the Escondido Public Library's Pioneer Room and seen what a great genealogical resource they were to the community.

With that said, there are several possible information communities I might explore, from the services provided by the Temecula Museum to that strange yet creative community known as the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fandom. The latter might sound funny, but they have built an interesting community of artists and talented storytellers. And what they have is a friendly and encouraging environment that ranges from on-line activities to off-line events (even fundraisers towards good causes like the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Forestry Department). So that is pretty cool.

This just a brief introduction, though.

Nice to meet everyone!