ファン制作に関連する最も一般的な経済モデルは、ギフト経済である[15]。社会科学において、ギフト経済とは、価値のある商品やサービスが、即時または将来の報酬について明確な合意なしに定期的に提供される社会である(即ち、正式なQuid pro quoが存在しない)[16]。理想的に、同時・循環提供は、コミュニティ内での流通、再配布に役立つ。
しかし、企業が二次創作活動がメディア製品の開発や広報、販促活動や流通の有効性にどのように寄与し、影響を与える可能性があるかをより認識しているため、この状況は長続きしない可能性がある。The Future of Independent Mediaというビジネスレポートでは「メディアの風景は、当然のことながら、アマチュアや趣味人によるメディアによって既存の風景をひっくり返すように作り直されるでしょう(中略)新世代であるメディアの制作者と視聴者が登場しており、メディアの作成と消費の方法に大きな変化をもたらす可能性があります」と述べている[29]。2007年に出版されたConsumerTribes[30]は消費者グループ、特に従来のメディアプロダクションと消費者製品間におけるマーケティングモデルを試行しているメディアファンにおける事例に着目している。
現在、一部の企業はファン制作が作品へ参加する余地を築きあげており、フランチャイズの承認を得たうえでその表示を行っているファン作品も存在する[32]。しかし、企業がファン活動に参加し、奨励することに反対する考えも存在する。スティーブン・ブラウンは、記事"Consumer Tribes, Harry Potter and the Fandom Menace"で、次のように述べている。「ファンというのは極めて非典型的な存在です。(中略)彼らは全く無関係でないにしろ、コンテンツの代表でもありません。彼らが熱狂的に見出した見解は絶望的なほどに、歪められています。熱心なフォロワーを集めるのは素晴らしいことか?(中略)一言で言えば、NOです」[33]
^You're in charge! – From vital patches to game cancellations, players are often intimately involved. by Christian Donlan on Eurogamer"Supreme Commander fans released Forged Alliance Forever and gave the game the online client it could otherwise only dream of. I haven't played it much, but I still got a tear in my eye when I read about the extents these coders had gone to. There's nothing quite so wonderful to witness as love, and this is surely love of the very purest order. [...] SupCom guys resurrect a series whose publisher had just gone under." (2013-11-02)
^Session on Fan Labor and personal discussion with an Auran company representative, Media in Transition Conference, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, April 18–21, 2007.
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