Anime music videos (known as AMVs) hold a peculiar place in American culture - they are arguably (in some cases more than others) flagrantly illegal and unfair uses of copyrighted material, yet are tolerated, even tacitly endorsed, by the copyright holders. This endorsement does not even come with any kind of control or regimentation, as it might in other fan circles. By a fortuitous mix of the original Japanese artists' treatment of copyrights and fan-made material (rather than simply Japanese copyright law), and the domestic anime market's existence and continued life and being owed to the loyal and proactive fanbase, AMVs are allowed to thrive. Their only tangible opposition (and not much at that) comes from the music industry's reluctance to allow songs to be distributed wholesale over the internet. Yet so far, AMVs as whole have been allowed to give people an artistic outlet in the manipulation of media that would normally be protected.

And yet, American copyright holders still try their best to limit what kinds of fan fiction can be easily found online, in hopes of keeping some control over the perception (or decency) of their brand. None have tried to actually take a sexually explicit fan fiction author to court for fear of alienating fans and setting the wrong precedent, but they have tried to quash such expression. And the more affinity towards the fanbase, the more the fans will be willing to censor themselves in order to please their benevolent masters (of the copyright).

On page 155 (chapter 4), Jenkins mentions "song videos" as a form of fan fiction. He talks about fan fiction here in contrast to the kind of fan productions LucasFilm endorses, which can only be parody-flavored or about the fans themselves. "Song videos" are often the kind of production preferred by female fans, who take the time to explore and develop certain relationships and themes that may or may not have been present in the original work. LucasFilm acts along the same lines as the law might approach various kinds of derivative works-though it is comfortable with parodies, anything that might be seen as "expanding upon" the original universe could technically be illegal derivative work and therefore to be avoided. The difference between monolithic character properties such as Harry Potter and Star Wars and an entire (niche) medium is also very important to note. Unlike the more specific fan cultures, the anime fan culture is both less mainstream (and therefore even more dependant on the loyal and active few) and unable to be corralled and manipulated by one corporate body. Since an entire genre of cinema and comics are the focus and instead of one copyrightable property, lots of varying interests are at stake and no single one can control fans as a whole.