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CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar

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HMS Ark Royal said:
I think it is the second option... The reason for that was that some tweets (still looking for them) mentioned there was no more Axanar, no more production work and that some top people had moved on
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If this is the case, it should make for some very interesting developments in the time to come. I'm not sure what effect, if any, this will have on the case, but I have to imagine it's not helping things. I tend to wonder if this will make any behind-the scenes people inclined to cut a deal with CBS/P, especially if they think they might be a potential Doe.
 
HMS Ark Royal said:
What are people's reactions to RMB stating he is not the Director and, at least to me, explicitly saying there WILL BE NO Axanar?
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He SAYS he was tweeting tongue-in-cheek, but even his lawyer friend who kept telling him to be quiet for his own good didn't get that from the tone of his tweets.

I asked him about it, too, and his replies were all terse present tense, as in, "at this moment I am not directing anything," and "no film is being produced right now." That just gives him plausible deniability.

This comports with the previous contradictions you've heard before:
  • We're not a fan film, we're a fully professional independent feature.
  • We're being sued, so we're a fan film.
  • We are building the coolest studio ever to produce our own commercial projects.
  • We have no studio, just a warehouse whose rent is a liability.
  • That studio is no asset, an asset is worth money.
  • We are selling our asset for $400,000.
 
Dennis said:
The declaration that it's "clear" that CBS doesn't object to fundraising is arrant nonsense - until three months ago any observer could have asserted that CBS "clearly" didn't object to anything Axanar was doing.

Other shoes may yet drop, once the studios have established what they mean to establish with this case.

I agree with Indy that the new series is probably depressing fundraising as well. The market rules.
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While I don't disagree with your logic, I also feel like, if Para/C really wanted to put an end to fundraising, they'd have sent a C&D to Continues when they launched this latest indigogo, or further, contacted them and advised them against it.
 
I have to wonder who is controlling the defense team.

A good lawyer would, in my uninformed opinion, muzzle the client to keep him from digging a deeper hole. But that's not what I see happening. The Axateam can't seem to keep themselves off social media, commenting on the situation and generally making bigger asses of themselves than they were before.

So how does that work? Is the legal team the boss, or do they just play cleanup after the dumbass clients get drunk or high and Twitter their case away?

I really would not want to be Ranahan at this point. She has to kicking herself in the ass for taking the case.
 
urbandefault said:
I have to wonder who is controlling the defense team.

A good lawyer would, in my uninformed opinion, muzzle the client to keep him from digging a deeper hole. But that's not what I see happening. The Axateam can't seem to keep themselves off social media, commenting on the situation and generally making bigger asses of themselves than they were before.

So how does that work? Is the legal team the boss, or do they just play cleanup after the dumbass clients get drunk or high and Twitter their case away?

I really would not want to be Ranahan at this point. She has to kicking herself in the ass for taking the case.
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There's nothing that says a client has to follow or accept advice. The sure W&S have suggested strongly that EVERYONE on their side shut up and not talk - but it appears a couple of their clients don't want to follow that advice. In the end, it's a free country; and such clients are free to be as stupid is they wish.
 
The problem is that backpedaling now is pointless. There are reams of posts and tweets indicating how indepth and involved they all were in the production of Axanar. There's almost a play-by-play of copyright violation on every level. If CBS wanted to be truly vindictive, they could have pressed harder than they are, and they would be justified for doing so. Instead, it seems like they only want to curb this breach and prevent it from happening again. This is why the people at the top of Axanar need to concede now. CBS/P is being more than fair. I wouldn't test their patience.
 
Noname Given said:
There's nothing that says a client has to follow or accept advice. The sure W&S have suggested strongly that EVERYONE on their side shut up and not talk - but it appears a couple of their clients don't want to follow that advice. In the end, it's a free country; and such clients are free to be as stupid is they wish.
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Thanks. That's pretty much what I already knew, but I can't believe the recklessness. It's like they think they can't lose, but they don't care if they do.
Lukas Kendall said:
I feel comfortable revealing what I told Rob, but not what he told me. It's fair to say that he is frustrated he spent so much time and effort on something that does not look like it will ever happen. And he told me what he put on Twitter, which is that the movie doesn't exist and therefore he's not the director.
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But he's on record, all over the internet, as being the director. He can deny all he wants, but he signed on as director, and has an office at Ares (not a) Studio.

There's plenty of evidence, all over the internet.

At some point, someone is going to have to say it's done and admit defeat. It won't be Lord Axahat, because. But someone will have to do it and will probably have to put Alec in a strait jacket. :lol:
 
Lukas Kendall said:
And he told me what he put on Twitter, which is that the movie doesn't exist and therefore he's not the director.
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The movie isn't finished, but the existence of the Vulcan scene (publicly released) and many completed visual effects (at least one frame released to the public) show that this isn't true.

Orson Welles never finished his film of Don Quixote, but what he did photograph certainly exists.
 
Harvey said:
The movie isn't finished, but the existence of the Vulcan scene (publicly released) and many completed visual effects (at least one frame released to the public) show that this isn't true.

Orson Welles never finished his film of Don Quixote, but what he did photograph certainly exists.
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Well it's par for the course with the Axanar camp, changing the narrative to suit the moment, the audience.

It's an "independent STAR TREK film" one day. A fan film the next.

It's a full-fledged studio equipped to shoot for-profit films too. Then a warehouse with sets and a green screen.

"I'm directing a $100 million dollar picture for $1 million dollars." Then: "I'm not a director because nothing's been shot!"

To-MAY-to, to-MAH-to.

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http://www.techtimes.com/articles/1...ar-team-responds-to-cbs-star-trek-lawsuit.htm

is this old news? site doesnt say

“Any ruling in this case may provide guidance to Axanar and other fan productions about what elements from the Star Trek universe can be used in future fan films, especially if certain elements are deemed to be unprotected by copyright law,” Erin R. Ranahan of Winston & Strawn LLP, who represent Axanar in this case, said. “As far as any fair use determination, that involves a balancing test that is hard to predict and fact specific, so a ruling either in favor of or against fair use may not necessarily provide precedent about whether another fan film may be considered fair use in another case (by another jury or judge). Our goal in defending this case is to ultimately encourage more creativity within fan communities rather than stifle it.”
 
muCephi said:
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/1...ar-team-responds-to-cbs-star-trek-lawsuit.htm

is this old news? site doesnt say

“Any ruling in this case may provide guidance to Axanar and other fan productions about what elements from the Star Trek universe can be used in future fan films, especially if certain elements are deemed to be unprotected by copyright law,” Erin R. Ranahan of Winston & Strawn LLP, who represent Axanar in this case, said. “As far as any fair use determination, that involves a balancing test that is hard to predict and fact specific, so a ruling either in favor of or against fair use may not necessarily provide precedent about whether another fan film may be considered fair use in another case (by another jury or judge). Our goal in defending this case is to ultimately encourage more creativity within fan communities rather than stifle it.”
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It's a new way of doing an old thing, AKA "hedging your bets."
 
urbandefault said:
I have to wonder who is controlling the defense team.

A good lawyer would, in my uninformed opinion, muzzle the client to keep him from digging a deeper hole. But that's not what I see happening. The Axateam can't seem to keep themselves off social media, commenting on the situation and generally making bigger asses of themselves than they were before.

So how does that work? Is the legal team the boss, or do they just play cleanup after the dumbass clients get drunk or high and Twitter their case away?

I really would not want to be Ranahan at this point. She has to kicking herself in the ass for taking the case.
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For the record, Winston only represents two defendants — Axanar Productions and Alec Peters. Rob Burnett is not (yet?) a named defendant, and even if named will likely need separate representation.
 
Lukas Kendall said:
I have begged, BEGGED Rob to publicly quit. He is a sweet guy with a lot of passion who is guilty of following his heart and trusting someone who was not worthy of him.
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Lukas Kendall said:
I feel comfortable revealing what I told Rob, but not what he told me. It's fair to say that he is frustrated he spent so much time and effort on something that does not look like it will ever happen. And he told me what he put on Twitter, which is that the movie doesn't exist and therefore he's not the director.
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I've not met him myself, but I got a very similar opinion of his character based his podcasts and the few comments we exchanged in a FB thread last month. Get him talking on any non-Axanar subject and his passion for Trek, his work and the film industry in general is clear for all to see. He's vocal on Axanar too of course, but there was a noticeable change in his tone when he spoke about it on the recent Blind Panels podcast. He and the host discussed how frustrating it is in Hollywood to work for years on a project only for it to amount to nothing - but that's just the way it is in the business sometimes. Despite his "best case scenario" quote I think RBM knows all too well what the outcome will be - which is why he posted that dour picture shortly after the news dropped in (although later retracted it). He knows in his heart that you don't win again the Big Studios.

Compare RBM's conversations to AP's and the most noticeable thing is that AP's conversations invariably turn to numeracy; numbers of fans, ratings, awards and of course money. I'm sure AP is a fan of Trek - but I think he likes $ more.
IMO
 
Lukas Kendall said:
I have begged, BEGGED Rob to publicly quit. He is a sweet guy with a lot of passion who is guilty of following his heart and trusting someone who was not worthy of him.
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@Lukas Kendall I think it is great that you and Rob can still have rational discussions about the situation. The few times I've chatted with Rob he seemed like a level headed guy. That's why some of the stuff he posts just blows me away. I applaud you and his other friends that encourage him to walk away from this ASAP. He will need friends when everything crumbles.........I think The Axanar principal, as you say, will only be looking out for himself and anyone close will get hurt.

Speaking of the Axanar principal, do you still have a relationship with him? Just wondering if he can speak rationally or does he label people haters in real life too and block them. Again thank you for your initial post.
 
I'd never heard of Axanar until George Takei shared the Prelude film on Facebook and my first impression was that it was kinda good. Watching what was undeniably Star Trek in that format was new and interesting. I thought the CGI was OK but not as good as I later read others describe it, to me it resembled video game cut scenes, nice but not earth shatteringly effective. And then it didn't take long for all sorts of alarm bells to start going off regarding Alec Peters and some of his entourage all of which have been covered by more knowledgeable people than me.

I like the other fanfilms, people are entitled to say that the writing and acting sometimes isn't the best but they all have the same intentions; to enjoy producing these episodes in the hope that others enjoy them too. I don't believe the team behind Axanar have ever had the same intentions.
 
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