Fan fiction definitely enhances commercial media. Fan fiction can turn a semi popular or unknown text into something bigger. In the day and age we are currently in fan fiction has to be acceptable, it is impossible with all the technology that we have available for fan fiction to be non existent. In regards to the Harry Potter phenomenon the kids participating in this informal classroom through the Daily Prophet are participating in convergence culture just as other texts in today’s culture are through a set of skills. According to Henry Jenkins in Convergence Culture, these skills are:

The ability to pool knowledge with others in a collaborative enterprise (as in Survivor spoiling), the ability to share and compare value systems by evaluating ethical dramas (as occurs in the gossip surrounding reality TV), the ability to make connections across scattered pieces of information (as occurs when we consume The Matrix, 1999, or Pokemon, 1998), the ability to express your interpretations and feelings toward popular fictions through your own folk culture (as occurs in Star Wars fan cinema) and the ability to circulate what you create via the Internet, so that it can be shared with others (again as in fan cinema). (176)

Fans wish to express how their interpretations of the fan fiction they enjoy, such as Harry Potter, Star Wars, etc. They do not see any harm because they have appreciation for the media text they  just wish to expand on it and become connected with other people who feel the same. However commericial media such as studios beg to differ. Some are concerned with remaining true to the original story and making money off their product not having fans gaining financial security or publicity with their product. There is nothing clear in writing that protects media companies from this insecurity, “current copyright law simply doesn’t have a category for dealing with amateur creative expression…it surely demands close reconsideration as we develop technologies that broaden (189)”. For this very fact what are fans suppose to do if there is nothing in clear writing? Times are changing and so is technology. Fan fiction can definitely enhance commericial media because these are fans who have appreciation for the text.

To counter this point, Diane Nelson, senior vice president of Warner Bros. Family Entertainment discusses how a fan’s sense of ownership over a particular property poses a challenge for studios. “When we stray from the source material or what the fans perceive as the true roots of a property, we are under their scrutiny. They can become either advocates for what we are doing or strong dissenters. They can shift the tide of how a property is introduced to the market place depending on whether they perceive us as having presented it carefully, respectfully, and accurately…(191)”. However, the material you are introducing are for the fans and consumers. Don’t they have a right to shift the tide? As consumers we always had the ability to shift the tide but never had the abundance of resources to do as we do now. Before all we could do was to talk amongst ourselves and tell one another not to go see a film because it was horrible, or not to buy a book because someone heard it’s a dull read. Now through fan fiction consumers have the ability to shift the tide all they want. This probably poses a big threat to media companies not that they realize the ball is in the consumers court, and not vice verca.

I think Jenkins puts it best “Establishing the fans’ loyalty often means lessening traditional controls that companies might exert over their intellectual properties and thus opening up a broader space for grassroots creative expression (191)”. Come on media companies lessen those traditional controls! Start treating “cult properties as ‘love marks’ and and fans as ‘inspirational consumers’ (191)”.