Photocopy

In the late 1970s, photocopy (or "xerography," often referred to as "xeroxing") became a method for printing fanworks. For many fans, this replaced other methods of production, such as offset and mimeo. 
Another early term for this practice is "cloning." 
The increasing availability of photocopiers shifted the power dynamics regarding the availability, distribution, and creation of fanworks to the hands of many fans, rather than just a few. As with all changes in technology and platforms, this had both pros and cons. Many of these arguments are echoed later regarding print fanworks and the rise of the internet, specifically in regards to gatekeeping, power, control of distribution, and quality.
In 1994, a fan equated the impact of VCRs and the photocopy machines with "the net" in how technology affects fandom discourse and fanworks: 
==First, a Little History and Perspective==
See much more at Zine Production.
In a 1984 essay, Randall Landers explained the glories of the new technology available to fans: 
In 2008, Nancy Kippax wrote of the cost and difficulties in printing zines with color: 
A fan in 1982 wrote: :
==Pros==
Fanworks, in many cases, could be created for less money.
Fans in different countries could more easily share fanworks without relying on expensive postage.
Lending libraries were created, allowing fans to borrow photocopies rather than originals.
==Cons==
Some fans complained that "now that anyone could created a zine," the quality of fanworks declined. 
Zine editors complained of zine piracy, something that lowered the demand for their originals. 
==All Hail the Office Photocopier==
While the first commercial photocopiers were sold in the 1950s, it was not until the late 1960s and 1970s that businesses and universities began using them. Since the cost of these copiers could run into the thousands, very few fans could afford one of their own and and instead relied on employers and universities for access. This meant that for many print zine fans, the use of the office photocopier machine was paramount to their creation and procurement of fanworks. 
The photocopier's use was sometimes with permission, but usually done on the sly. 
The main reason the office photocopier was utilized was cost, but other fans liked the convenience. 
From a fan in 2015: "...how exciting it was later when my hubby and I bought a small home photocopier - very unusual at the time, and [fairly] expensive for both the machine and the service contract: most of fandom were looking for jobs in the public service just so they could produce fanzines on the work copier." 221b-hound.tumblr 
Not all fans found the cost of a home copy machine prohibitive. In 1984, the editor of Naked Times wrote that that issue was printed on a home photocopy machine, a 'Royal 2502 copier stationed in editor's living room'." from the editorial of Naked Times #5 
Also see Explicit Zines, and Print Shop Adventures.
===Other Comments===
 
{{Quotation[1995]: 
I got caught a few weeks ago. (I work in the document
production area, so personal use of the copier is one of my few
perks.) I was copying some circuit stuff that kept jamming the
copier, and I finally gave up on copying it two-sided, and settled for
one-sided copies.
The next morning, I heard one of the copy center people going on a
rampage, wondering which unauthorized person had been using the copy
machine the previous night, and waving the single pages of my zine.
Oh, shit. I'd forgotten about the first side of the double-sided
pages, before the jam occurred. They were waiting there patiently
inside the machine until someone else copied doubled-sided, at which
point the copier spit them out as unusable.
I managed to retrieve the useless pages with as much dignity as I could muster, but she gave me the _oddest_ look. comments by Jan Levine at Virgule-L, quoted with permission (Aug 5, 1995) }}
==The Photocopier, Unauthorized Copies, and Zine Piracy==
See much more at Zine Piracy.
Some early pleas, this one from a fan in 1977: 
From a zined in 1982: 
From a zined in 1986:
==More Fan Comments==
==Additional Reading==
*How the Photocopier Changed the Way We Worked—and Played (March 2015)
==References==
Category:Print Media