Speaking metaphorically, because all *true* Trek fans know that only red shirts die. Super Trek fans know this most of all
He's probably savoring the opportunity and banking up bad puns.
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CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar
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Speaking metaphorically, because all *true* Trek fans know that only red shirts die. Super Trek fans know this most of all
He's probably savoring the opportunity and banking up bad puns.
That other Industry Studios doesn't appear to be a front for Axanar. It's its own thing. http://industrystudios.co
You know, one thing I haven't seen considered yet is the possibility that the studios could call actors in during discovery and ask under oath whether they were told they were hired for a Star Trek prelude, whether Mr. Graham was asked to portray a Vulcan or more specifically reprise his role, etc. I would have to think this would be pretty hard for W&S to spin.
I've tracked down the principal behind Industry Studios LLC. He doesn't appear to be a Peters person, and the company has been around since 2012, just not incorporated until 2015.
So now maybe Axanar Productions can get on the hook for a trademark infringement? By other thing, do you mean it has no involvement with the greenscreen, and Axanar's secret group just happened to use a taken company name?
Edit: Industry Studios .co is a marketing company doing web work. It doesn't look like they and the Axanar greenscreen operate in competing spheres, so trademark is probably not an issue for separate companies, unless someone unthinkably copies their fonts, or decides to go into marketing using the greenscreen.
Say, wasn't that what Mr. Bawden was saying was such a good fit for Axanar's vision and a certain CBS/Paramount/donor-bought facility? (TrekZone interview)... maybe this is that.
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Neither Ares nor Valkyrie nor Industry have been officially registered with regard to a company associated with Axanar's studio/warehouse/studio, and all are in use by other companies. So they're not serious about any name they've used so far.
I just made it up, connecting how the Post's Watergate coverage infuriated Nixon to how Axanar feels about how it's scrutinized. Though I'm sure I've heard some form of that quote's construction elsewhere.
I definitely had that in mind, but the construction of that quotation is different.
Pro-Axanar blog claims CBS/Paramount's answer to counterclaim gives Axanar's legal team an unintended gift. See what you think…
The author asserts that because there is a hobbyists' comprehensive record of other fan films not being shut down, that somehow this creates some space for defeating CBS/P on the grounds that they are somehow unfairly singling out Axanar. As I understand it, the enforcement history might address the damages but has 0% bearing on whether the lawsuit can be pressed and won. And CBS/P based damages on the making of benefits, not necessarily the unquantifiable impact of a fan film on ticket sales or the like.
The author also asserts that the 'gift' is that CBS/P admitted to 4 contacts between them and Alec, and so they will be in some sort of weak position where it was reasonable for Alec to assume he could proceed, and it would only be a 'he said/she said' situation (somehow less effective as a case), unless the studios can prove they had written followup to Alec of any instructions not to proceed.
Firstly, it is just the author's speculation that there is no written followup.
Secondly, the studios could potentially demonstrate by their own recollection/records of the meetings what happened, I wouldn't think these things would be without weight. In fact, they could be pretty damning, and meanwhile the whole defense team has to rely on Alec's representation of what actually happened, until CBS/P presents its records to discovery or at trial... *that* sounds like a nice smooth road
.Thirdly, Alec said things here and there in podcasts and the like, and his emails may be discoverable, all of which could show him at some point having told someone that they were in some sense as he understood it, not just left in the dark, but told no or told in respect to a direct request, "we can't agree to that" (which is no, not "unanswered").
In fact, I thought that's what the recent Trekzone podcast unearthed wrt/ the permission to write novellas, wasn't Alec said to have said "we asked and we couldn't get that permission?". I know that's hearsay, but I wonder how emails might weigh in.
Finally, the "innocently proceeding forward without knowledge of wrongdoing" part has to be weighed, I think, in the context of blatant repeated attempts at unlicensed appropriation of Trek IP for resale on the side. It reflects back on how "innocent" the making of the film should be considered to be.
As for the "fair use" assertion which seems to be the main defense W&S talks about, this author seems to think 'fair use' means give Axanar the same treatment as others. I guess it probably doesn't mean that at all. And the author seems to think that all the profiteering angles are no different than other films and so should be discounted. That seems like a stretch.
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To extend the author's metaphor — this article is a steaming pile of Mugato dung.
I bought the DVD maybe ten years ago. My wife and I watched it and loved it. I watched it a few times over the next few months and continued to love it. So I watched it again recently. I'd forgotten that Altman and Burnett make their fictionalized selves look like assholes; it's got much sharper edges than Big Bang Theory. But I still enjoyed it. If RMB got on his hind legs and said fuck Axanar, I'm doing Free Enterprise II, I might be interested in seeing the result. But it seems pretty obvious that he lacks the self-awareness he had back then.
What do I think of his assertion? I believe it's...
I've been wanting to use that one for awhile.
Burden of proof in a counterclaim is on the party asserting it.
Defense asserts the counterclaim and they are asserting permission or at least, I suppose, benign neglect. CBS and Paramount don't have to prove anything when it comes to the counterclaim and, yes, the affirmative defense of fair use. It's all on the defense.
Quoting from the blog:
If he had played by the same "rules", he wouldn't have popped up on their radar in the first place.
And just who has the better track record when it comes to the truth?
That's a big assumption to make. Most business execs will make a little memo have any meeting they had with outside persons exactly for this very reason.
So a new "teaser" trailer dropped for Axanar and it was featured on Buzzfeed Entertainment's Facebook page:
Love it when people tease vaporware. Coming soon ... never.
Love it when people tease vaporware. Coming soon ... never.
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