CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar

[Joel_Kirk]

And this matters because...?

Well, it matters because I'm responding to a post as a person who is looking to get his foot in the door....and it matters because I feel this is a lesson for not only myself (as a soon-to-be writer, director, actor, producer) but other filmmakers out there who want to put out their own work either as a 'fan' production or a 'professional' production.

Not too mention, it matters because this little Axanar situation is a lesson on how to conduct oneself professionally...as aforementioned.

 

[Maurice]

^^^I think the question was "what does CBS and Paramount being Delaware corporations matter"? The lawsuit concerns federal law, not state law.

 

[Maurice]

Goat? I thought we were dealing with sheep? You know, the sheep who are still donating money to Axanar?

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

​

 

[Joel_Kirk]

^^^I think the question was "what does CBS and Paramount being Delaware corporations matter"? The lawsuit concerns federal law, not state law.

Ah...

Well, I think I just personally found it interesting that CBS and Paramount were Delaware corporations (based on my own knowledge of corporations) outside the Axanar lawsuit situation.

What was there with Tony Todd? I have tried to google the answer but didn't find the right one I guess.

Someone else will probably be able to give a more complete answer, but I believe Mr. Peters put Mr. Todd's salary out in the open. And there were some unprofessional tweets I believe from Mr. Peters before Todd basically stated he wasn't returning to the project.

(Again, I may have the details incorrect).

 

[Ion]

^^^I think the question was "what does CBS and Paramount being Delaware corporations matter"? The lawsuit concerns federal law, not state law.

Exactly.

Well, I think I just personally found it interesting that CBS and Paramount were Delaware corporations...outside the Axanar lawsuit situation.

This isn't uncommon (nor, apparently, is Nevada for this sort of thing).

IIRC (admittedly from research done a decade or two ago), the reason corporations file in Delaware is essentially cost related. It doesn't cost much to file, and I believe there is also no corporate income tax or something like that.

Shouldn't have any impact on their liability in the Axanar case AFAIK. Then again, not a lawyer, or even an MBA.

 

[jespah]

Most corporations in the US are Delaware corps. It is a cottage industry there, and Widener Law School provides a hefty amount of Corporate Law above the minimum, if you're so inclined.

Taxes are better as are the laws - Delaware is one of the few states left with separate equity jurisdiction.

 

[Maurice]

Most corporations in the US are Delaware corps. It is a cottage industry there, and Widener Law School provides a hefty amount of Corporate Law above the minimum, if you're so inclined.

Taxes are better as are the laws - Delaware is one of the few states left with separate equity jurisdiction.

Yeah, when I worked for Namco American we were a Delaware corporation as well.

 

[Ion]

Delaware is one of the few states left with separate equity jurisdiction.

What's that when it's at home?

 

[Joel_Kirk]

Exactly.



This isn't uncommon (nor, apparently, is Nevada for this sort of thing).

IIRC (admittedly from research done a decade or two ago), the reason corporations file in Delaware is essentially cost related. It doesn't cost much to file, and I believe there is also no corporate income tax or something like that.

Shouldn't have any impact on their liability in the Axanar case AFAIK. Then again, not a lawyer, or even an MBA.

Yeah, it's the cost! (I was too lazy to look it up to further jog my memory). And California is like the most expensive to startup a corporation...and there aren't that many perks as brought out.

No, at this point, in regards to the Axanar case....I feel CBS and Paramount both have a strong case. Those particular corporations have the 'winning cards' so to speak.

 

[BillJ]

For all the heat I give Axanar and Alec Peters, CBS definitely dropped the ball here as well.

The entire matter should have never gotten to this point, and it wouldn't have if CBS stepped into the fray much earlier than they did. I'm disappointed that while not a lot of money, many people are still going to lose whatever they donated to Axanar because of CBS inaction in the matter.

Let the NFL find out you're using their IP without their permission and they'll have a 'cease and desist' order at your door the next day via FedEx.

The same thing should've happened here.

 

[Joel_Kirk]

For all the heat I give Axanar and Alec Peters, CBS definitely dropped the ball here as well.

The entire matter should have never gotten to this point, and it wouldn't have if CBS stepped into the fray much earlier than they did. I'm disappointed that while not a lot of money, many people are still going to lose whatever they donated to Axanar because of CBS inaction in the matter.

Let the NFL find out you're using their IP without their permission and they'll have a 'cease and desist' order at your door the next day via FedEx.

The same thing should've happened here.

I wonder if there is something more that was going on that we don't know about.

 

[Maurice]

The entire matter should have never gotten to this point, and it wouldn't have if CBS stepped into the fray much earlier than they did. I'm disappointed that while not a lot of money, many people are still going to lose whatever they donated to Axanar because of CBS inaction in the matter.

I suspect they didn't want a C&D. They wanted to make a statement.

 

[Ion]

Let the NFL find out you're using their IP without their permission and they'll have a 'cease and desist' order at your door the next day via FedEx.

The same thing should've happened here.

I've given a lot of thought to this since there's no way they shouldn't have known about it. When you combine it with Peters supposedly having been involved with CBS on some official level (archivist or something, wasn't it?), I'm guessing there's something other than raw IP infringement that they're annoyed about.

That said, it does feel a bit vindictive -- unless perhaps Peters is refusing to settle?

Given his tendency to revise history and the "all your Star Trek are belong to me" attitude, I would not be a bit shocked if they had gotten involved earlier (at least verbally), and that was ignored, and so they came to the conclusion that legal action was the only way to stop this.

I suspect they didn't want a C&D. They wanted to make a statement.

Or that.

 

[jespah]

What's that when it's at home?

Are you asking what equity jurisdiction is (forgive me if I'm missing something obvious - I blame hunger)?

Way back when, as in, medieval times, it was kind of a division between the King's law court and the peasants' equity which was handled by the Chancellor. I imagine it grew out of the poor folk not having money. Having them hand over gold was not going to happen, but making Farmer John build a fence to keep his cow from trampling your crops? That was considerably more feasible.

Long story short, the main differences we see these days are in the area of remedies. An injunction, specific performance, and subrogation are all equitable remedies, whereas the awarding of damages is a legal remedy (this is all civil stuff; criminal does not apply here).

Sorry if this is overly technical. Equity is nice for corporations as they will go in and enjoin against a sale of stock in the Delaware Chancery Court. Per Wikipedia, the only places in the US that still have equity courts or at least some connection to equity jurisdiction beyond the remedies, are New Jersey, South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, and of course Delaware.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I suspect they didn't want a C&D. They wanted to make a statement.

What statement, exactly? (I mean, I see several possibilities, but I hardly know enough to choose with confidence.)

 

[Karzak]

I see a lot of references to Peters being an "official" CBS / Star Trek archivist. It's even on Memory Alpha. Has this been verified, or is it just information we have gotten from Alec himself? If so, I'd take that with a huge grain of salt. Can anyone shed some light on this? I mean, he likes to tell people he was responsible for restoring the Galileo shuttle, and as it turns out he didn't pay for it nor was he the chief operator behind that restoration. Is it possible these tales of Peters' involvement at CBS in some official capacity are being further exaggerated, like everything else he tells his acolytes?

 

[Maurice]

What statement, exactly? (I mean, I see several possibilities, but I hardly know enough to choose with confidence.)

That remains to be seen, but "These guys crossed the line... watch out or it might be you next," is a one guess.

 

[Ion]

Sorry if this is overly technical. Equity is nice for corporations as they will go in and enjoin against a sale of stock in the Delaware Chancery Court. Per Wikipedia, the only places in the US that still have equity courts or at least some connection to equity jurisdiction beyond the remedies, are New Jersey, South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, and of course Delaware.

This is actually kind of interesting, though as mentioned before I'm not sure it would really mean much for Axanar. Thanks for explaining.

Came across something interesting, though, in the Wikipedia article regarding Delaware Corporations:

This proves advantageous in civil suits as the owner or owners cannot be disclosed under Delaware law and thus are safe from being sued alongside the company.

I guess Peters missed that particular memo.

I see a lot of references to Peters being an "official" CBS / Star Trek archivist. It's even on Memory Alpha. Has this been verified, or is it just information we have gotten from Alec himself? If so, I'd take that with a huge grain of salt. Can anyone shed some light on this? I mean, he likes to tell people he was responsible for restoring the Galileo shuttle, and as it turns out he didn't pay for it nor was he the chief operator behind that restoration. Is it possible these tales of Peters' involvement at CBS in some official capacity are being further exaggerated, like everything else he tells his acolytes?

Hence my use of the word 'supposedly'. I'm still trying to figure out why exactly CBS would have a dedicated position for "Star Trek archivist" and what that individual would actually *do*.

Unless maybe it was a volunteer thing for bragging rights...

 

[Karzak]

Oh I wasn't trying to point the finger at you. I was just inquiring (in a broad sense) about the archivist thing, because it does seem like an odd title/job for a movie studio to be actively employing, and something tells me apart from nerdgasm'ing at some auctions over items he's won, Peters is still full of shit on this claim as well.

Happy to be proven wrong, but as yet nobody (outside of Peters and the Axanar camp) seems to be able to provide any concrete documentation about these claims.

 

[Ion]

Oh I wasn't trying to point the finger at you. I was just inquiring (in a broad sense) about the archivist thing, because it does seem like an odd title/job for a movie studio to be actively employing, and something tells me apart from nerdgasm'ing at some auctions over items he's won, Peters is still full of shit on this claim as well.

Happy to be proven wrong, but as yet nobody (outside of Peters and the Axanar camp) seems to be able to provide any concrete documentation about these claims.

Didn't think you were; was just agreeing with you.

On all points.