I guess egotistical sociopaths really can smell their own.
CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar
- Thread starter Richard Baker
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I guess egotistical sociopaths really can smell their own.
You mean, besides the one in "Errand of Mercy," right?
"Errand of Mercy," the first episode either involving or even mentioning the Klingons, depicts events during what all characters explicitly refer to as a "war" between the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets.
Spock mentions the battle of Donatu V in "The Trouble with Tribbles".
Okay, so since today is Axaversary, I'll offer a couple of thoughts:
1. CBS screwed up. They waited until LFIM raised (and spent) $1.4M over multiple crowdfunding campaigns to take action. This meant that once CBS did act, LFIM had every incentive to fight to the bitter end.
2. CBS and Paramount did not anticipate LFIM retaining competent counsel. This was their major tactical error. The studios assumed this would be a Blitzkrieg against a broke and overwhelmed defendant. The fact they hinted at a number of "John Does" in the complaint was also a complete bluff, one that LFIM successfully called.
3. CBS should have treated this as a matter of consumer protection, rather than copyright infringement, from the beginning. We know that even before the lawsuit there were a ton of red flags surrounding Axanar's spending. If CBS had lobbied the California AG or the FTC to investigate Axanar--in effect, let the government do the dirty work--LFIM would have been exposed and stopped without the need to bring copyright up and give Axanar supporters the chance to drone on and on about a non-existent fair use defense.
4. For that matter, if CBS and Paramount had done nothing, Axanar probably would've imploded on its own by now. The lawsuit gave LFIM a built-in excuse for not completing the film.
5. While I know "Axanar ruined it for other fan films" is a popular narrative in some quarters, I disagree. LFIM did not force CBS' hand--the 8,500-plus fans who donated to the crowdfunding campaigns did. Jon Van Critters has been pretty open that the studios wanted to end the "arms race" among fan films. Even if Axanar never happened, itwas inevitable that some other fan project would've come along and put up similar numbers.
6. Speaking of Van Critters, it strikes me that his dereliction of duty allowed a lot of this to happen. We've all mocked LFIM for his emails to Van Critters "ratting out" the other fan films. But another way to look at that is LFIM was testing the boundaries of what CBS would tolerate. Prior to the fan film guidelines, CBS offered no public guidance whatsoever, and it's fair for Axanar to point out (in terms of PR, not the lawsuit) that the studios enjoyed a promotional benefit from fan films.
7. To that end, if Van Critters had sat down with LFIM--before he started crowdfunding--and given him strict guidelines on what he could and could not do, is there any reason to believe LFIM would not have complied? After all, LFIM clearly got into Axanar hoping that somehow his work would ingratiate him to CBS and get him hired for "official" Trek. Instead, Van Critters and CBS maintained their vague "unwritten" policies until it was too late.
8. Despite everything I said above, the actual lawsuit to me remains straightforward:
1. CBS screwed up. They waited until LFIM raised (and spent) $1.4M over multiple crowdfunding campaigns to take action. This meant that once CBS did act, LFIM had every incentive to fight to the bitter end.
2. CBS and Paramount did not anticipate LFIM retaining competent counsel. This was their major tactical error. The studios assumed this would be a Blitzkrieg against a broke and overwhelmed defendant. The fact they hinted at a number of "John Does" in the complaint was also a complete bluff, one that LFIM successfully called.
3. CBS should have treated this as a matter of consumer protection, rather than copyright infringement, from the beginning. We know that even before the lawsuit there were a ton of red flags surrounding Axanar's spending. If CBS had lobbied the California AG or the FTC to investigate Axanar--in effect, let the government do the dirty work--LFIM would have been exposed and stopped without the need to bring copyright up and give Axanar supporters the chance to drone on and on about a non-existent fair use defense.
4. For that matter, if CBS and Paramount had done nothing, Axanar probably would've imploded on its own by now. The lawsuit gave LFIM a built-in excuse for not completing the film.
5. While I know "Axanar ruined it for other fan films" is a popular narrative in some quarters, I disagree. LFIM did not force CBS' hand--the 8,500-plus fans who donated to the crowdfunding campaigns did. Jon Van Critters has been pretty open that the studios wanted to end the "arms race" among fan films. Even if Axanar never happened, itwas inevitable that some other fan project would've come along and put up similar numbers.
6. Speaking of Van Critters, it strikes me that his dereliction of duty allowed a lot of this to happen. We've all mocked LFIM for his emails to Van Critters "ratting out" the other fan films. But another way to look at that is LFIM was testing the boundaries of what CBS would tolerate. Prior to the fan film guidelines, CBS offered no public guidance whatsoever, and it's fair for Axanar to point out (in terms of PR, not the lawsuit) that the studios enjoyed a promotional benefit from fan films.
7. To that end, if Van Critters had sat down with LFIM--before he started crowdfunding--and given him strict guidelines on what he could and could not do, is there any reason to believe LFIM would not have complied? After all, LFIM clearly got into Axanar hoping that somehow his work would ingratiate him to CBS and get him hired for "official" Trek. Instead, Van Critters and CBS maintained their vague "unwritten" policies until it was too late.
8. Despite everything I said above, the actual lawsuit to me remains straightforward:
- Does C/P own the copyrights to Star Trek? Yes.
- Did Axanar/LFIM infringe those copyrights? Yes.
- Is Axanar/LFIM's infringement protected by fair use? No.
To this point, we know that Axanar planned on running additional crowdfunding campaigns, both for the film and for several unlicensed pieces of merchandise. If CBS and Paramount had done nothing, Mr. Peters would have certainly raised more money from gullible fans before the inevitable implosion. After all, people were defending and praising Mr. Peters here even after the lawsuit landed (just look at some of the comments made when J.J. Abrams misspoke about the fate of the lawsuit).
And who knows, Mr. Peters might have produced something. Even if it was of the quality of the god-awful trailer released this year, such a product may have been enough to technically satisfy his crowdfunding obligations, and probably would have pacified his most ardent fans.
I think, therefore, that CBS and Paramount had to do something. You may be right, however, that they could have taken different actions (e.g. the consumer protection angle) and are almost certainly right that they waited too long (after Mr. Peters had spent the majority of the money and after all four crowdfunding campaigns run by Axanar had closed, with the exception of the In Demand phase of the Indiegogo campaign).
To clarify, I'm not suggesting they should have done nothing, only that if they had, Axanar would likely have collapsed even with the additional crowdfunding.
Actually, now that I think about it, CBS should have just stolen a Bird of Prey, warped around the sun, and gone back in time to stop LFIM from ever developing Axanar in the first place...
Ah, okay. I completely agree -- collapse of the project was inevitable.
Even with the involvement of a number of professionals (on Prelude to Axanar), they were not able to stay remotely on budget. Once those people left the project, things only got worse on that front. I'm not even speaking of any inappropriate spending here -- just in terms of making a film, financially, they acted stupidly.
And in TOS the only mention of Axanar is from the TOS episode "Court Martial" - where when Kirk is called to the stand to testify, the court computer lists Commendations that James T. Kirk received from Starfleet. The particular commendation that referenced 'Axanar' was called: "Palm Leaf Of Axanar Peace Mission" .
And in "Whom Gods Destroy," of course.
KIRK: I agree there was a time when war was necessary, and you were our greatest warrior. I studied your victory at Axanar when I was a cadet. In fact it's still required reading at the Academy.
GARTH: As well it should be.
KIRK: Very well. But my first visit to Axanar was as a new fledged cadet on a peace mission.
To be fair, Hinman found a business registered in Florida belonging to Peters. He posted the business name and address because it was in the public record. He had no clue it was a residence or who was living there until Peters went nuclear about his "godsons" living there. No one would have known if he kept his trap shut.
Hi! Is this the Axanar annual lawsuit party? Where can I get my commemorative sushi and piece of carpet? 
IDK - Many people run small businesses out of their home. I'd fault Peters for listing something that was a 100% personal residence only as a business address. Unless Mr. Hinman had more knowledge when he posted it (IE it was just a personal residence and nothing more) - I can't really fault him for it; although he really does appear to have a major Axe to grind with anything involving Alec Peters to the point that he's lost any form of journalistic detachment with regard to Alec Peters and Axanar.
Doh! In my defense "Whom Gods Destroy" isn't a favorite of mine, so I haven't watched it that often, or paid attention to the dialogue.
The saddest thing for me is the donors who got nothing for their donations. Especially the people that donated 10k, 15k and more (there were a few in that range). Can you imagine donating over 10k and getting NOTHING!. Alec will just blame CBS of course for the film not being made, that is his verbal out with donors. We know the real reason, and know that con artists are alive and well these days.
If they had bought his Dad a box of condoms, it would've saved heartache and heartburn for a lot of folks.
You know that doing that would only create a parallel universe where LFIM doesn't exist. WE still would have to deal with this crap.If they had bought his Dad a box of condoms, it would've saved heartache and heartburn for a lot of folks.
Well, if he fails to deliver on the project then it's breach of contract and in theory they'd be entitled to sue. The bigger donors should try and band together for a class action, which in turn would make it easier for the smaller donors to have a shot at getting some money. Obviously, as a matter or practical reality it would only ne worthy it if Peters comes out of all of this still with money (unless they want to bankrupt him).
Well, you can look at it that way or you can look at it as them making sure their case was a string as possible by acting when the infringement was overt and generating an income stream.
The unnamed parties were a precautionary measure to account for co-defendants who might not have been identified at the time of service. What's more, any decent lawyer goes into litigation with the presumption of opposition. I think you are fundamentally wrong on both of these assertions, not least because you are applying hindsight.
There is no reason not to do both. Their copyright is infringed and I think it is right they attempt to get a court judgment to that effect, not just for Axanar but for future protection against infringers.
Allowing Axnar to implode would still have set a precedent of tolerance. They were perfectly right to take a stand once an infringer went too far.
I agree. If not Peters then someone else would've come along. That it ended up being Peters was a testament to his arrogance and misplaced self belief, and little more.
They are under no obligation top provide guidance. While I am sure some fan films would have liked guidance, the fact is that they made in clear before the litigation that Axanar wasn't supported. Peters carried on anyway. You cannot blame JVC for that.
Maybe, but what if they simply didn't want highly funded, professional Trek pro9ductions out there full stop? You said it yourself that they wanted an end to the fan film arms race. They race would continue if you allowed any part of a $1m plus production to continue.
Assuming he gets permission to appeal. That depends on the judgment and whether or not there is a point of law on which to argue further.
It depicts what the characters say was about to become a war, long after the Axanar timeframe, and doesn't mention any past war. Kor says, "A shame, Captain. It would have been glorious." No actual state of war existed yet, despite a number of incidents, and the Organians prevented one from happening.
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