Preservation, policy, and the Archive of Our Own: An open letter

Abstract

AO3's governing documents, which include otherwise thorough policies on data privacy, copyright advocacy, and user-uploaded content, contain a glaring omission: Neither the Archive nor its parent group, the nonprofit Organization for Transformative Works (OTW), possess a publicly available digital preservation policy. Given the evolving position of transformative fandom in the mainstream cultural debate and the large-scale changes that new technologies like generative AI have wrought on creative online spaces, drafting a digital preservation policy would grant the OTW the opportunity to respond to the contemporary needs and wants of its designated community and to formulate a concrete plan for the future of AO3 as a vehicle for preservation in light of its current sociopolitical context.