TPTB's Involvement with Fandom

Throughout fannish history, fandoms have had different levels of involvement with The Powers That Be, the creators of their source texts. This involvement has varied in intensity, taken on several forms, and had differing end results. 
Some canon creators have had very positive involvement in their fandoms, while others prefer not to become involved; still other creators take a negative view of any kind of fanwork output involving their creations (see Professional Author Fanfic Policies). TPTB involvement with fandom has also given rise to some notorious incidents (including accusations of copyright infringement, lawsuits and bans on slash fanfiction), some of which had a chilling effect on all fannish output for that fandom.
In the era of social media, TPTB/fan interaction is much more normalised, allowing creators to both cater to fans and create a different set of issues. See TPTB and Social Media.
 
Refer to TPTB's Involvement with Fandom/Specific Fandoms for some more detailed info and fandom-specific examples.
==Exciting Presence or Dampener of Creativity?==
A fan in 1996 wrote: 
==No Involvement==
Some fandoms, even very large ones, had very little or no contact with the producers, writers or actors. 
Some examples: 
* The Professionals
* Starsky & Hutch
==Direct Participation==
Some canon creators directly participated in fandom.
* by Twitter: see Teen Wolf
* (2009) "It may seem shocking in the moment but one day, sooner than you think, people will laugh at how this was such a big deal. Because what is it, really? An exchange of words, pictures. But to me it was more than that. It was some strange moment where we all just went into the danger zone and destroyed these walls we all took part in creating. And it felt so f-cking good."
* by consciously engaging; see Orlando Bloom
* by participating in online discussion groups; J. Michael Straczynski, the creator of Babylon 5, was a regular contributor to the newsgroups alt.tv.babylon-5, rec.arts.tv.sf.babylon5 and rec.arts.tv.sf.babylon5.moderated. rec.arts.tv.sf.babylon5.moderated See Babylon 5 for more.
* by writing introductions to zines: two examples: Reflections in a Shattered Glass which has an introduction by Terry Nation, and Security Check has one by Walter Koenig
* by commenting to zine eds on the zines a fan or zine ed had sent to them: an ad for Snakebit notes that both John Carpenter and Mike McQuay have wrote of their favorable impressions of the zine
* by allowing material of their own to be published in zines: Revenge of the Wind Rider says it has poetry by Leonard Nimoy in it that was printed with Nimoy's permission; Nichelle Nichols and DeForest Kelley who both had Trek poetry zines. 
* by writing LoCs: Spockanalia has letters from Gene Roddenberry, D.C. Fontana, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley and James Doohan, and Cousins includes several lengthy communications by Robin of Sherwood's creator, Kip Carpenter
* with personal correspondence with fans: phone calls to BNFs, something Gene Roddenberry did
* appearances by the actors, directors, and writers at fan-run cons: Star Trek, Robin of Sherwood, and Blake's 7, others
* by requiring fans to send them their zine proposals and finished zines, see Open Letter to Star Wars Zine Publishers
* by writing, editing, and otherwise producing material in their own fandoms, see Marion Zimmer Bradley
* by creating doujinshi, either about their own commercially published manga or about other source works
* by writing fanfiction anonymously: see Leverage co-creator John Rogers's tweet about his AO3 account 
==Some Fans Don't Want TPTB's Involvement==
* a Star Wars fan writes: "What do I want from Lucas film? To be left alone, mostly." from Southern Enclave #12 
* a Starsky and Hutch fan begs for the next Zebracon not to be in Los Angeles but somewhere in the Midwest. One reason: “If Spelling-Goldberg wouldn’t let Paulie put the guys’ pictures on T-shirts for a con in Chicago, what other kind of restrictions would be run up against if we held a con right there in their own backyard, where they could even sort of ‘drop by’ to check on things?”' from S and H #7 
* a Star Wars fan writes: "I'm not at all as enthusiastic about the pro fiction out there. Fortunately, I just kept myself from opening my mouth on the subject on the Fidonet SW echo (discussion), when I found out that Kevin Anderson was lurking there ... but now I can at last say what I really think about Jedi Search." from Southern Enclave #39 
==Some Fans Directly, and Indirectly, Contacted TPTB==
While some fans were "required" to send their fannish work to TPTB (See: Open Letter to Star Wars Zine Publishers by Maureen Garrett), other fans directly, or indirectly, voluntarily alerted the original creators of their fanworks. Sometimes this had positive results. Other times, not so much.
===The Case of Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and The Holmesian Federation===
 The eighth (and final) issue of The Holmesian Federation included a novella titled "The Adventure of the Gentleman in Black", written by Tina Rhea about a case in which Holmes & Watson encounter le Comte de Saint-Germain, the protagonist in a series of novels by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro who based her character on the Count of St. Germain, a historical figure from the 18th century. On learning of the novella's publication, Yarbro contacted legal counsel and sent Cease & Desist letters to the author and editor. A protracted dispute ensued. 
See much more at A Matter Of Willful Copyright Infringement.
===Other Examples of Contact with TPTB and Differing Results===
Before George Lucas' edict, some fans volunteered their creations: 
Another fan had this fear: 
From a submission request for the zine Here Lies Illya Kuryakin: 
One zine, Third Age, was dead in the water before it even began. 
The editors of Snakebit wrote of the response they got when they sent their zines to some of the Escape from New York creators: 
Deb Walsh recalls her proposed 1988 Tanith Lee zine, "Ghyste Mortua." It was to be based on Lee's Kill the Dead novel which Blake's 7 actor Paul Darrow declared was based on the characters of Avon and Vila: 
Another fan explained that she was sending copies of the zine to the actors themselves: 
The actor who played Julian Bashir was given three fiction zines at the second Lunch with the Doctor. The editor gave Sid a copy of Palpitations, and he said that he would record some of the stories on tape. Another fan gave him a copy of Doctor Julian Subatoi Bashir: This is Your Life: 
At least one fan found herself disillusioned with the very show she'd based her letterzine on: 
==TPTB? Who Cares About Them?==
At a recent science fiction convention, one relatively new fan contrasted her views towards TPTB with that of earlier fans. This statement not only reflects changes in studio attitudes towards fan creations, but the place of the earliest generations of fans and especially the Fair Use Act in creating an environment where this writer could say such things: 
==See also==
*Violation of the Fourth Wall
*Zines and the Internet
==References==
Category:Fan Activities
Category:Industry