CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar
- Thread starter Richard Baker
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Right on all counts. In many ways, the lawsuit was a savior for AP and Co. It gave him the perfect excuse to do what he what he was aiming to do anyway - nothing.
Does the end justify the means? For Axanar, no. The end was a vanity Gary Stu production with some side benefits for a few actors, the deliberate exploitation of fan film support to buy a studio and fund the tech development to wash/repeat, and the insertion into the canon-making of Trek someone who has shown little vision beyond the above. Everyone who tried to elevate the content or process of Axanar above this was driven away, so you can be sure this was the goal.
Would a hypothetical, profoundly well written acted and produced Trek story justify the fundraising and IP violation? Not the scale of fundraising, because Trek is not their property. But with a much smaller level of fundraising and a negotiated pass from C/P who are moved by the story, perhaps.
In the end, I still think it is a very functional issue set in a context. Now that anyone can make and profitably distribute content competitive with ordinary TV shows, can any IP owner afford to let their unique look and feel and ideas and characters get diluted for no royalty by competing businesses masquerading as 'fans'? No, they just can't. Leaving some space in short form is a smart idea but still just an experiment. I am not convinced its sustainable given how people may try to work their way around it.
Would a hypothetical, profoundly well written acted and produced Trek story justify the fundraising and IP violation? Not the scale of fundraising, because Trek is not their property. But with a much smaller level of fundraising and a negotiated pass from C/P who are moved by the story, perhaps.
In the end, I still think it is a very functional issue set in a context. Now that anyone can make and profitably distribute content competitive with ordinary TV shows, can any IP owner afford to let their unique look and feel and ideas and characters get diluted for no royalty by competing businesses masquerading as 'fans'? No, they just can't. Leaving some space in short form is a smart idea but still just an experiment. I am not convinced its sustainable given how people may try to work their way around it.
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Depends. Do you want a movie about a 71 year old and his robot cloned dead girlfriend, even if it is cloaked in "because he was offered to make a film about her (the dead girlfriend's) life"? Will she have a glowing spine?
This is probably fodder for a separate thread, but there's something sad and cringeworthy of seeing the same small cluster of aging actors (or also writer/producers like David Gerrold, etc...) pop up again and again associated with something fan-filmy or geeky or satirical or nostalgia-retro. This low-budget scene really feels like it's become the next evolution of the convention-circuit. Whether it's legally actionable or not, it's a cottage industry that exploits past glories and associations with preexisting IP. While it can be done respectfully, it's all too easy to come across as schlocky, creatively bankrupt, or seeming to be motivated by little beyond the hopes of making a quick buck. Renegades and Axanar pushed the envelope more than they should, IMHO, but the worst offender is Unbelievable, by virtue of taking a Mad Mad Mad Mad World approach of just cramming the entire convention circuit into one movie which is Trek (and Team America) with the serials filed off via parody fair-use clause.
I mean, it was once a novelty seeing someone like Walter show up in a fan-film. What he did on New Voyages/PII was special. But to then proceed to do nothing but these sorts of things is really making it seem like he had nothing better to do with his time in the first place. Pretty much the living embodiment of the BBT punch-lines that were given to people like Brent Spiner or LeVar Burton, that they'll do anything for a little spending-cash or craft-services, no matter how humiliating.
Oh absolutely. When I talk about getting carried away and ignoring the warning feelings I had prior to the Indigogo, this is what I'm talking about. When they posted needing $1.3 million it was obviously past the point where they knew what they were doing. The still-unfinished bridge set sitting in the middle of the studio was testament to it.
It continued to be obvious after the Indiegogo fell far short of what they'd hoped and when it was being discussed in the podcast, it was only Rob who was pointing out that they should make as much of the film as they could with the money they had, whereas Alec was still talking about going back to the well.
As I say, a real pity as I'd have loved to have seen the finished film, but the people who could've made it happen walked out long ago.
As they said on their Indiegogo in answer to a staged FAQ question "why do you need so much money?", "everything costs more when you are professional production, not a fan film".
Its easy to forget amid all their claims to be a fan film and speak for fan films that this all developed under their self-image as professionals who just don't have to pay license fees or investor dividends (thanks to exploitable ambiguities in crowdfunding and Trek fan film policy). They wanted a slice of the professional pie while working those loopholes. They got... something else.
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OTOH, genre actors may have been trapped into shlock when they made memorable characters for SF/fantasy fans. I don't blame them for seeking what they can, and wish they could get out of the box.
An important point. The true professionals who were the key to Prelude's success left once "the studio" became more important than "the film."
Want to follow the money? We're getting closer, as Alec Peters revealed in yesterday's podcast that an audit of Axanar's books is complete and has been sent to CBS/Paramount as part of discovery. Also, AxaMonitor fact-checks Peters' new and recurring narratives about the lawsuit, Discovery and more.
And on the third hand, there's a time when the majority of creative folks are faced with the most difficult question they will ever have to answer: when do you know it's time to give up on your dream? Nothing is forcing them to stay in the industry after their careers cool.
From that article:Want to follow the money? We're getting closer, as Alec Peters revealed in yesterday's podcast that an audit of Axanar's books is complete and has been sent to CBS/Paramount as part of discovery. Also, AxaMonitor fact-checks Peters' new and recurring narratives about the lawsuit, Discovery and more.
^^^^
If Alec Petyers does this and thinks he can either 'win' the case - or win on appeal; yeah, he's lost it. Stipulating that Axanar is Star Trek literally makes CBS/Paramount's case for them and pretty much the only thing that will need to be decided is damages.
If Alec Peters (or Erin Ranahan/W&S) really think they be able to prevail/appeal on the basis of some "Fair Use" defense (trust me when I say Axanar could not be considered "Fair Use" without a MAJOR re-write of current U.S. Copyright laws); yeah, the Ninth Circuit court may be considered liberal - but they're NOT THAT liberal. It boggles the mind that a professional IP lawyer somehow thinks they'll win or somehow set a new legal precedent with this case.
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Want to follow the money? We're getting closer, as Alec Peters revealed in yesterday's podcast that an audit of Axanar's books is complete and has been sent to CBS/Paramount as part of discovery. Also, AxaMonitor fact-checks Peters' new and recurring narratives about the lawsuit, Discovery and more.
So Alec is repeating his argument that Christian Gossett demanded the studio, even though Mr. Gossett disputes it. Wonder what the emails show, and whether Mr. Gossett might produce some relevant to this issue.
"The fans gave us way more money than we asked for and we would never disappoint the fans" Alec argues about scaling the project to the money available.
If this really was the cornerstone of his philosophy, why couldn't he mail patches? Its more like he could never disappoint his personal desire to make Trek and set himself up for the future.
Alec says the difference between Axanar and other fan films is not the scale of the money, but "we did it with a little more panache". And to accusations they crossed a line, "what line? CBS never told us what the line was".
Yes. Salaries, a studio owned by Alec, selling blatantly stolen merchandise IP (models), relicensing items not licensed to start with or telling downstream vendors they are sheltered from licensing because its donations buying the products (game pieces),and so on... I suppose you could observe it is more daring than others. Daring to break the law.
"CBS has to prove they own Trek." My money is he and W&S have stepped out in front of a MAC truck with this one.
Yeah, oy. Just givin' away the store even before the first question is asked. And no, he can't take it back. It's out in the public sphere now (just not sworn to yet).
I get a nice cerebellum massage when I facepalm this hard. But it does knock my glasses off.
I get a nice cerebellum massage when I facepalm this hard. But it does knock my glasses off.
I have a hunch LFIM will be doing this repeatedly once the ball really gets rolling..........
Many of those you see in the fan films are over or around 70. Koenig is 85.
edit: And can somebody quickly tell me what "LFIM" stands for?
Many of those you see in the fan films are over or around 70. Koenig is 85.
edit: And can somebody quickly tell me what "LFIM" stands for?
LFIM = Lord Foot In Mouth...........a nickname bestowed on Lord Alec by virtue of all the incredibly dumb things that come out of his mouth
Team Axanar never had a viable defense in the first place. Doesn't stop them from trying, of course. Hope springs eternal.
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