Do you update your fannish profile(s) regularly? Do you have a transformative works statement?People who like your work will want to know where else they can find you! People who are inspired by your work might want to transform it further!
It’s a great idea to take a look at what you have written in your AO3 Profile (
https://archiveofourown.org/users/YOUR-USERNAME-HERE/profile) and on any social media platform’s bio or about me sections at the start of the year. Update them if they’re out of date!
And if you haven’t got one yet, may I strongly suggest that you add in a transformative work policy statement?You may experience a feeling of hubris when writing it
(I certainly did) — who would ever want to transform
your work?! How presumptuous of you to say "Please don’t translate my work without providing a link back to the original with credit", as if you are expecting it to one day happen. Don’t let that stop you: think of it as (a) helping to create fannish norms and (b) a just in case scenario.
Thing is, it could happen. Someone might want to transform your work out of appreciation, or as a challenge, or because they liked it and want to see it in a different language or format, or for a variety of other reasons.
But if someone decides that they
do want to, and then they can’t easily find a clear public statement saying "Yes please" or "No thanks" regarding transformative works based on your work… they might not have the confidence to come into your comments/DM/email and ask. They might not transform your work, just in case. While we are people who regularly dabble in other creators’ canons, fandom tends to have strict unwritten rules about transforming other fans’ works without permission.
So if you wouldn’t mind (or would be delighted about, or don’t want) having someone remix your work, or draw fanart for it or write an accompanying fanfic or podfic it or transform it into a fanvid or give it a fanmix or a myriad of other creative things… say so!
Don’t worry too much about whether it will or won’t happen: worry about whether you have made your stance clear and created (or closed) that opportunity for other fans.
I’d like to direct you to a couple of resources:- Here is the fanlore article about blanket permissions.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
cap_ironman specifically has a podfic-friendly writer list here and also linked on the Dreamwidth and Tumblr sidebars - you can add yourself to that, and browse it for phrasing. There’s also a Fanlore page linked there which has a (likely not-up-to-date) list of authors that give podfic blanket permission.- akamine-chan’s AO3 meta post in favour of everyone having a policy statement on their profile(s), with some examples.
- sophinisba’s 2011 post about the usefulness of having an AO3 profile filled out from a podficcer’s perspective.
- As an example, my own AO3 profile which contains my transformative works statement. Yours doesn't have to look like mine!
A reminder: a blanket permission policy isn’t necessary! You might be happy to be remixed and podficced, but not want anyone to translate your work into a different language. You might want someone to ask permission first for one type of transformative work, but not for others (etc etc). You can specify that in your statement!
A second reminder: if you
don’t have a statement publicly available, or you have a statement saying that you don’t want your works to be transformed, and then you sign up to a
cap_ironman event such as the Remix Madness challenge (opening on Jan 10th this year) which by its nature requires the further transformation of your work, then you are
explicitly giving your permission to have your work transformed for that event.
Please consider having a transformative statement in your profile to make life easier for everyone!
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cap_ironman_fe2021-01-05 08:15 am
