CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar
- Thread starter Richard Baker
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For me, the issue of whether a fan film can be professional is irrelevant. What matters is whether the "fan film" is profiteering from an IP without permission. That's theft which is why it is illegal. If I start my own movie production company and make a Superman movie without the rights to do so, it might technically be a "fan film", but I am still violating DC's IP rights and will get into trouble.
That's why I think, CBS/Paramount's strategy was foregoing the traditional C/D and just going all Shock and Awe, with Loeb and Loeb, and the Atty. attached to the case, and the thousands of potential copyright violations..... Just to suck all the air out of th room, cause everyone to scatter, and hopefully it shuts down on it's own.
*IF* Peters is running Propworx out of Ares Studios.... hmmmm Maybe CBS knows alot more than we think they do... I am sure the Atty. did their homework.
To be clear - I restored Galileo. Alec helped. He did NOT pay anything for the ship or for the restoration.
Thanks for clearing that up
1) Thank you for all the work you did on that project. Really excited to someday visit the shuttle.
2) You'd never know Peters only "helped." He's all too happy to take credit for that project whenever he can.
Sidebar: In attempting to search for an appropriate example of same, I did come across this page which has at the top this little nugget:
Oh yeah. That's "smart."
Someone mentioned that the term "Axanar" was non-copyrightable, or perhaps non-trademarked. Does anyone know anything more of this?
From what I've gathered, "Axanar" was a term invented for The Original Series (and extrapolated on in licensed fiction, Enterprise, and the remastered Next Generation). Federation or Starfleet should be more free to use than "Axanar" itself.
From what I've gathered, "Axanar" was a term invented for The Original Series (and extrapolated on in licensed fiction, Enterprise, and the remastered Next Generation). Federation or Starfleet should be more free to use than "Axanar" itself.
For the same reason that God needs a starship?
For the same reason that God needs a starship?
Has Peters claimed anywhere that his only income last year was the $38,000 from Axanar?
"We won't be commenting much on the legal case. But yo! Axanar Marines! Go set the record straight!"
I bothered to read the complaint, and Alec needs to learn the difference between speculating on CBS's motivations, and claiming things as fact. I don't think anyone I've seen talking about this has had the intention of claiming facts about why CBS chose to sue them, or why now; we're just speculating, and that's understood.
As to amicable resolution... Yeah, good luck with that. It's rather hard to negotiate after someone drops a nuke on you. All you can do is watch it fall, and wait for the BOOM. I would be very surprised if CBS were willing to negotiate; it's doubtful that Axanar has anything they want.
Stranger things have happened, of course.
Yeah, brought this up earlier; Alec's antics make me wary of taking the hearsay of CBS's unwritten (and unspoken) rules as gospel, no matter who claims it. Though again, I find it interesting that ST:C references that in their IRS non-profit filing; that does lend at least a little legitimacy.
Since I don't make fan films (yet), I'm not going to pursue it -- but I am curious.
This is one of those things that I keep hearing, and I keep disagreeing with every time I hear it.
CBS owns the IP. I don't see any reason why they couldn't set a very clear set of guidelines, like:
"You can't make a profit. If you take donations, they must be used for the film. You can(not) hire professional actors. Your project exists at our sufferance, and if at any time we decide it needs to stop, you agree to shut it down, stop publishing, and destroy all known copies. We reserve the right to rescind this permission or kill your production (and its distribution) at any time, just because the CEO stubbed his toe and is in a bad mood that day."
I don't see what that would lose them (except maybe causing more fan films to be made because people are more comfortable with it). But then, I'm not a lawyer or even an MBA, so
And what if it went the other direction?
Maybe CBS was ambivalent about it, but someone at Paramount blew a gasket and needed CBS agreement to sue. It's also important to note that this came out of the blue from our perspective. I don't entirely buy that they haven't warned the Axanar folk before now (and I would love to know the truth of the matter).
For like, a day. That's about how long it'll take for CBS to smoosh him flat.
Actually, I think current news would indicate that a bunch of old floppies from a Kaypro computer are "the true keepers of Roddenberry's vision."
This is a little like the general minimum wage debate - you guys shouldn't be mad because someone else makes decent money for their work, only that you don't. (You know - assuming Peters was making money off of his own work and not someone else's....
)I'd love to see that. All of that - the movie, the resultant shitstorm, and the eventual movie about the shitstorm.
Axanar is a word or historical name in Spanish. However, as applied directly to a specific product - like the trademarked name for a spaceship - it might hold up. Like "Windows" for a computer OS. So, arguable - like many other things in this.
In grand style.
Plans for Ares Studios.... From Axanar Podcast #20, right in at the 45:00minute mark
http://www.trek.fm/star-trek-axanar-the-official-podcast-episode-directory/
http://www.trek.fm/star-trek-axanar-the-official-podcast-episode-directory/
They want Axanar to stop. No doubt they'd prefer a quick negotiated settlement to a drawn jury trial, and no doubt they'd be willing to make some compromise to get that, and certainly there's no doubt they can and will go all the way if that's necessary - they hold the upper hand and it seems that everyone but AP knows that.
TLDR: "We're going to be the next Amazon Streaming in ten years. All thanks to your Star Trek donations!"
For the same reason that God needs a starship?
What happens when you ask Alec Peters a question:
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnxvKJAv5Ik[/yt]
This is a little like the general minimum wage debate - you guys shouldn't be mad because someone else makes decent money for their work, only that you don't. (You know - assuming Peters was making money off of his own work and not someone else's....
I'm not mad. I find it laughable that Peters claims that it's only $38,000. In comparison, others are able to make a living working much more and for far less money, which is why I find his cries laughable. It's as if he's martyring himself to make Axanar by taking only that amount of money.
What I do find questionable is that his salary is on the backs of someone else's IP. There's lots of questions that arise as to the propriety of how the funds are actually being spent.
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