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CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar

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KennyB said:
Hmmmmmmm Tony Todd seems to not be happy with the Axanar team either with his #tellthetruth hashtag.

Tony Todd ‏@TonyTodd54 1h1 hour ago Wish #Startrekfans all the best, but, There' are reasons I withdrew from #Axanar beyond #creativedifferences #TellthetruthTony Todd ‏

@TonyTodd54 43m43 minutes ago @PhilsStalkers #Startrekfans I left 3 months ago No longer supportive of #Crowdfunding no accountability
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That's most interesting! I didn't know that either. I wonder what exactly are those “reasons” he is alluding to.
 
What is a fan film anyway?

Something self funded and shot in ones garage? Or multi-million crowdfunded productions that pay actors and build sets? They have stretched the meaning of a fan film to beyond breaking point.
 
Campe98 said:
Maurice said:
Here's the thing: it takes time to mount a legal case. A legal department can toss out a C&D like that, but if you're actually going to file suit your legal team has to assemble a case that they are certain they can win. You don't rush that. I'm certain they've been building this case for months.
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Very true. Also interesting, since Peters was dropping info in their podcast about having lunch with CBS Legal in August, if I recall correctly. There are several possibilities:

1. Peters was lying out of his ass and didn't meet with CBS Legal.
2. Peters knew about the pending lawsuit and was attempting to sweet talk his way out of it.
3. CBS Legal was attempting to get some info on Axanar to see how deep it was going.
4. CBS Legal and Peters are, or rather were, really close friends prior to this.
5. CBS Legal had no qualms with Peters prior to this (or any other) lunch meeting and decided maybe they needed to look into it.
Click to expand...

Spitballing here: If the Aug. meeting happened. Could it have been a last olive branch to end things on a peaceful note? Maybe Peters even agrees to their terms. Peters lets his ego get in the way, ends up fucking over the whole thing.
 
M said:
KennyB said:
Hmmmmmmm Tony Todd seems to not be happy with the Axanar team either with his #tellthetruth hashtag.

Tony Todd ‏@TonyTodd54 1h1 hour ago Wish #Startrekfans all the best, but, There' are reasons I withdrew from #Axanar beyond #creativedifferences #TellthetruthTony Todd ‏

@TonyTodd54 43m43 minutes ago @PhilsStalkers #Startrekfans I left 3 months ago No longer supportive of #Crowdfunding no accountability
Click to expand...
That's most interesting! I didn't know that either. I wonder what exactly are those “reasons” he is alluding to.
Click to expand...

Todd probably won't disclose that, because he's a class act.

In other Twitter news, Burnett keeps burying himself deeper and deeper. If anybody cared about his work before, he's torpedoing his career there.
 
Rats. I was looking forward to this. Most fan films are - well, the acting is bad and the stories worse, but I liked the prequel I saw.
 
MikeH92467 said:
Overgeeked said:
Of course they sued. Because Axanar is looking better than the stuff CBS / Paramount is putting out.

I really hope this case goes all the way and CBS is ruled to have insufficiently defended their copyright and it's declared public domain. Give the franchise to the fans and let them play in the sandbox. Half of the fan productions are better Trek than the Abrams stuff anyway.
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Get a clue and get back to us. CBS has the hammer and decided to drop it because this group got too big for their britches and crossed lines that anyone involved with a fan production knows about.
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I'm not into fan productions; i'm just a casual viewer.

I do know that they set out to make a for profit studio from the fundraiser that would produce the non-profit fan film, Axanar.
They've always stated that Axanar itself - the film - would not be sold or otherwise commercially exploited (with the exception of kickstarter perks for donation).
Why did it take CBS two years to drop the hammer if that was the problem?
 
This won't get to trial unless Plaintiffs want it to, but if it did, Burnett's Twitter account would be a trial exhibit, as would the majority of internet comments referring to Axanar as "The Real Star Trek".

It's a shame the canon enthusiasts won't let Star Trek be fiction. I truly suspect the worst is yet to come. From their view, anyway.
 
SeerSGB said:
Campe98 said:
Maurice said:
Here's the thing: it takes time to mount a legal case. A legal department can toss out a C&D like that, but if you're actually going to file suit your legal team has to assemble a case that they are certain they can win. You don't rush that. I'm certain they've been building this case for months.
Click to expand...

Very true. Also interesting, since Peters was dropping info in their podcast about having lunch with CBS Legal in August, if I recall correctly. There are several possibilities:

1. Peters was lying out of his ass and didn't meet with CBS Legal.
2. Peters knew about the pending lawsuit and was attempting to sweet talk his way out of it.
3. CBS Legal was attempting to get some info on Axanar to see how deep it was going.
4. CBS Legal and Peters are, or rather were, really close friends prior to this.
5. CBS Legal had no qualms with Peters prior to this (or any other) lunch meeting and decided maybe they needed to look into it.
Click to expand...

Spitballing here: If the Aug. meeting happened. Could it have been a last olive branch to end things on a peaceful note? Maybe Peters even agrees to their terms. Peters lets his ego get in the way, ends up fucking over the whole thing.
Click to expand...

I certainly wouldn't put it past him.

Oh, good God...
Burnett: "I'd like to announce my new documentary, THE BATTLE OF AXANAR, crowdfunding soon!"
 
Campe98 said:
SeerSGB said:
Campe98 said:
Very true. Also interesting, since Peters was dropping info in their podcast about having lunch with CBS Legal in August, if I recall correctly. There are several possibilities:

1. Peters was lying out of his ass and didn't meet with CBS Legal.
2. Peters knew about the pending lawsuit and was attempting to sweet talk his way out of it.
3. CBS Legal was attempting to get some info on Axanar to see how deep it was going.
4. CBS Legal and Peters are, or rather were, really close friends prior to this.
5. CBS Legal had no qualms with Peters prior to this (or any other) lunch meeting and decided maybe they needed to look into it.
Click to expand...

Spitballing here: If the Aug. meeting happened. Could it have been a last olive branch to end things on a peaceful note? Maybe Peters even agrees to their terms. Peters lets his ego get in the way, ends up fucking over the whole thing.
Click to expand...

I certainly wouldn't put it past him.

Oh, good God...
Burnett: "I'd like to announce my new documentary, THE BATTLE OF AXANAR, crowdfunding soon!"
Click to expand...
I only see good things coming from this.

Tom said:
IMO, Burnett and others needs to jump of the bus Alec is driving if they want to preserve there prospects going forward. Guys, Axanar is finished, it is a shock, I know but need to look at your futures.
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Indeed. I think you guys handled it well when CBS came knocking and you couldn't go forward with your original plans. You stepped back, said "we're cool," and went to work on another more legally acceptable option.
 
What I feel bad for, are the fans who donated to this project, not once, but twice.. People who gave their hard earned money (Donors who gave more than my $15.00) who I thought were throwing good money after bad this past summer.

These are the most vocal defenders of Axanar now that the wheels are coming off the bus... and I get why.. I just feel bad for them.
 
JE Smith said:
Honestly, I don't understand why Kickstarter/Indiegogo et al allow people to run campaigns for projects where they clearly are not the IP/license holders. Seems like that would open them up to a huge amount of liability for enabling projects like this to stockpile cash for properties they do not own.

I mean, I once wanted to print up a one-off, just-for-me t-shirt that incorporated the Batman logo, and the t-shirt company went BANANAS about copyrights and trademarks and basically told me I'd have to get a permission letter from WB before they could even consider printing up ONE t-shirt for my own personal use.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing that happened a while ago, or at the very least in-person and not on-line. Nowadays, with the amount of content on the internet and the way the DMCA is set up, the practical way to protect yourself from an infringement lawsuit is to not even make the slightest effort to vet anything for infringement, but remove it promptly upon any complaint from (anyone claiming to be) a copyright holder. It lets copyright holders get exactly as much free fan-generated publicity as they care to have, and it protects services like Kickstarter and YouTube and t-shirt printers and whatnot from looking like they willfully support infringing content, since they make it clear that they only consider that as a factor when instructed to by a copyright holder. Even if it wasn't a convenient fiction for everyone involved, with the amount of stuff out there, it's impractical to screen it all. If Kickstarter tried to stop infringement before anyone complained, they might get in more trouble when they missed something, since it could look like they let it through by choice, rather than just being a disinterested service where an infringing person happened to put their infringing thing.
 
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