Henry Jenkins has emerged as the leading scholar on fan communities and participatory cultures.  In specifically addressing anime fansubbing communities, Jenkins presents a familiar argument of piracy actually serving as a promotional activity for anime properties.  He notes that by the Japanese anime industry being tolerant of grassroots activities in the United States, “much of the risks of entering the Western markets and many of the costs of experimentation were borne by dedicated consumers.”  This tolerance of fan activities represents part of a Japanese cultural tradition that permits expansion and engagement with media properties.  For example, manga artists and studios have permitted the appropriation and infringement of their copyrights by amateur artists in the doujinshi market.  Rather than viewing these activities as a threat to the value of their properties, Japanese companies have recognized that collaborative structures are important in “developing compelling new content or broadening markets.”

As other scholars such as Leonard and Kelts have noted, anime fandom helped build up a structure for an American market through experimentation with unfamiliar content and promotion of niche titles.  Jenkins's analysis of how companies must balance fan engagement along with protection of their properties is particularly relevant to the ongoing controversy in anime fandom between fansubbing groups and licensing companies.

In chapter six, Jenkins discusses the role of popular culture in emerging political communities. Jenkins (as is the case throughout Convergence Culture) is focused on how old and new media interact and the dynamics of collaboration and participation. While Jenkins recognizes the scoff-factor when implying the concept of “photoshop for democracy” (user-generated images that often map themes from popular culture onto the political campaign) is any sort of substitute for real political activism, he insists that this kind of user-generated content and mass dispersion is a serious act of citizenry. In fact, using popular culture as a means of engaging voters might just be the most effective way of re-establishing interest in politics as a part of our everyday lives. Jenkins focuses on the 2004 election and recognizes that the next step is to think of “democratic citizenship as a lifestyle.” Furthermore, online political communities seem to be segregating voters, as opposed to encouraging dialogue across ideologies. Although he seems to offer popular culture as a kind of national balm for the ailments of political fragmentation, Jenkins recognizes the inherent limits of its role in (or applicability as a model for) contemporary political communities.

For me, the most useful parts of this argument is the attention he pays to the increasing participation of average Americans (now as monitorial citizens as opposed to informed citizens) in the media landscape and the possibilities for the integration of politics and popular culture. However, he doesn’t seem to offer any real solution for the acutely polarized political landscape.

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.

    In Chapter 4 of Convergence Culture, MIT Professor Henry Jenkins discusses the grassroots/netroots communities that form around the creation of digital content.  Specifically, the proliferation of DIY digital video creations based on the Star Wars mythos and collaborated on by fans all across the internet.

    20th Century culture, Jenkins argues, built towards a massive uprising of grassroots culture, which began to truly take hold upon the integration of the internet into daily life.

    If there are any flaws in the current fan environment, as he sees it, they are (as he mentions from Lessig) the proliferation of legislation produced to keep the interests of major character-licensing corporations happy, such as mega-giant Disney, which will be quite able to rest upon licenses of its property for decades to come, even if Disney kept producing creations that are barely profitable.

    Convergence culture heralds the digital age, for sure.  Displaying outright giddiness for the subject matter, and extravagant love for the legions of DIY Star Wars buffs and MMORPG fans which proliferate the internet.  These weekend warriors deal with the same kinds of copyright issues that I will, though they re-craft their sacred universes whereas my method is to sample.