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There's controversy in the world of after , a $3million commercial venture, entered into the space prompting a significant backlash in the community. has an . I've an interview with Henry that I'll post here soon:

If you are wondering what Fan Fiction is this wikipedia entry may be helpful: Fan fiction (also commonly spelled as fanfiction and frequently abbreviated to fanfic or occasionally just FF or fic) is a broadly-defined term for fiction about characters or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creators.

In other words writers using the characters and settings from existing works of fiction to create works of their own. A quick trawl through the sites and you'll see fanfic versions of Harry Potter, Dr Who, Star Trek, Buffy etc, but plenty that lies outside popular sci-fi and fantasy shows and novels.

Fan Lib's official launch created a significant backlash within sections of the .There were many concerns voiced by fanfic writers but a key issue seems to be that a commercial presence in fanfic will draw attention to a space that has operated as a close-knit community below the radar of copyright lawyers and rights holders. Even if companies like Fan Lib were to create spaces protected from cease and desist notices, for some fans it would inevitably be a censored space. Henry puts it like this:

the concern that as companies construct a zone of tolerance over certain forms of fan activities, they will use them to police more aggressively those fan activities that they find offensive or potentially damaging to their brand. Fans have long asserted their rights to construct and share fantasies that may not be consistent with the ideological norms of media companies.

It's a fascinating issue, that mirrors the concerns raised by other virtual communities faced with a growing commercial exploitation of, and public interest in, what they regard as "their space". We've seen similar issues arise in Second Life, for example, though the overwhelming reaction there .

As with all these cases, adverse reactions in the community are not uniform, and new entrants attract new enthusiasts. As Henry points out there are already many fans choosing to join Fan Lib; clearly many fanfic writers are happy with the new venture. The people behind Fanlib say that they will answer questions posted to Henry Jenkins in his blog, and I've invited them to talk to Pods and Blogs too. It will be interesting to see how things play out.

UPDATE: You can listen to our interview with Henry Jenkins here