A world without gatekeepers

Notes about “Why Heather can write” by Henry Jenkins

We are in a new era. A culture revolution in wich the main character is Internet. Nowadays, Internet is “the vehicle for collective problem solving, public deliberation and grassroots creativity.” But, what happens when the fandom (for example, the fans of Harry Potter books) and the big companies are against? That what Jenkins show us in this book. The great experience of children as a “active participants in these new media landscapes, finding their own voice through their participation in fan communities” and the big issue: copyright.

At first, Internet seems a free big world “where people can participate in various ways according to their skills and interest”, a world without gatekeepers, without parents or teachers. A new way of knowledge (writing and reading skills are develope in some children by surfing on Internet). Jenkins speaks about Heather Lawer and her school newspaper about the imaginary Hogwards school: ‘The Daily Prophet’, like a great example of this. In my opinion the big problem in all of that issue are the big companies (in the text is Warner Bros inc.) because they think that “almost all fan fiction are arguably a copyright violation”. And what? Is it not positive for the book, film or serie? Is it not free advertisement? Is all the time the same: the studio’s assumptions against the fans’ own sense of moral.

Finally, I think Internet has created a new way to develope our kowledge. That’s not means that on Internet everything is good, but a correct use of it is positive. At the end is necessary “rewrite fair-use protections to legitimate grassroots creativity” to offer the best use of Internet.