CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar

The more the lawsuit looks like its about to fall away, the more attention it will get.

 

There's a huge irony here. Winston was ethically bound to file an Answer that best positioned their client without regard to a settlement because that settlement might never happen.

At the same time, a counterclaim may well have been construed as unnecessarily aggressive given Friday's announcement about the suit going away.

In her interview on the pro-Axanar Fan Film Factor blog, attorney Erin Ranahan explained that with the deadline for the Answer already having been set, combined with Judge Klausner's well known dislike of delays, she felt bound to file the Answer instead of asking for an extension.

That may have been a strategic error. Since the announcement happened on a Friday and the Answer was due on Monday, there was no time to digest what had actually happened. Hell, most of the news media thought the suit was being dropped when it actually hadn't, and the Axanar camp was already touting their victory.

By moving ahead with the Answer as scheduled instead of asking the judge for an extension given that it might've been possible to resolve the case, Ranahan felt she simply had file an Answer with a counterclaim in it because that was in the best interests of her clients. Unfortunately, that appears to have sent the wrong public message, given the inaccurate but widely held media narrative that the case was being dropped.

 

Did he? I've spent the day driving around Shropshire and I come back and Axanar has the green light? Wowsers.

 

IMO, not pursuing the lawsuit would do more damage to CBS's reputation than settling or dropping it. Their stance on copyright protection may also be damaged, possibly hurting their position on future copyright cases.

 

Agreed, @carlosp's reply is masterful. I hope the other guy lives near a hospital with a burn unit, because he just got scorched.

 

When the Judge denied the last MTD, he told them these CBS/Para hadn't asked for a injunction.

 

Thanks, I must have missed that. I won't ask, then, why they aren't making it right now as that's obviously already been answered somewhere.

 

Oh, darn.

 

Yup, barring any future injunctions he can make the film. He has always been able to make the film, but decided to put the production on hold, pending what happens in the lawsuit. Thing is, he is lucky if he has anymore than $300k left, and good luck trying to run another crowdfunder (if even allowed).

 

Link: https://pitlawblog.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/star-trek-opinion-on-motion-to-dismiss.pdf

They've had over a week to get their shit together and start doing something, anything. Yet all they keep doing is pissing away any chance they may have had to come out of this with their collective skins intact.

Frankly, I think Peters couldn't give two shits about Axanar and is just trying to hold on the studio and whatever cash is left in the bank.

 

Can Judge Klausner rule on AP's counter-suit deciding it's frivolously without merit?

 

Why not? From everything else we've seen AP is without merit.

 

What is the next big date in regards to the suit?

 

If there's even that. If he hadn't got $ in his eyes, bought into the ass kissing cult of personality around Axanar, and just made the damn movie, we wouldn't be here today. It'd just be another flavor of the season fanfilm. But he had to get greedy and try to cash in.

If, IF, there is any money in Axanar's coffers, it'll never cover the cost if he loses this suit---much less fund a production of any scope. Pro-bono just means no billable attorney hours, the firm will still make him pay for ancillary office, court, and third-party fees and costs, and that's not counting paying any judgment and plantiff's legal costs.

 

Here's a list of tentative court related dates courtesy of the G&T Show.
http://www.gandtshow.com/judge-klausner-rules-second-defense-motion-dismiss-lcs-amicus-brief/

 

Either way, he will try to blame CBS/P if he can't make the film. If he allowed to make the film he will blame the 6 month delay from the lawsuit causing him to have to pay extra rent, etc.. etc.. Some will believe him, but others will be smarter and figure out he should have about 400k of the 500k from Indiegogo because it would not be more than 100k for 5-months rent and utility's.

Now will be the real test, lets see if he makes the film, and how well he does. Can he do it on a much tighter budget? or, will he delay it the next year or 2 in hopes of getting more money. If anything , this lawsuit has educated people on how Alec really is, and it will be a real challenge for him to get the film done if he is allowed to do so. He needs to take a lesson from Tommy Kraft and see how a smart person can make a great film for under 50 grand.

 

Thanks. So it seems There Be Does is the next big event if settlement doesn't happen before.

Regarding to Peters making the film now or not (as in there's no injunction), one of the reasons they argued against the lawsuit is that it wasn't ripe, i.e., there's not movie to sue regarding copyright violation. Why would he then go ahead and make it so that CBS would then have a case by their own standards?

 

Does not matter if he makes the full film or not CBS/P can crush him in court with what they have now. Alec loves to claim that thousands of donors want Axanar. Well its those donors he needs to please. So don't ban them, don't insult them, or not make the film when you could have. These are the donors that you are trying use as leverage in your case with CBS/P. You need to treat them with respect, or in the long run, you will have answer to them, and nobody will do a dam thing to help you anymore.

 

I guess I can understand from a technical legal standpoint why Ranahan felt she should file the countersuit, but it still seems to me like it was a bad idea from outsiders perspective to have made such an aggressive move so soon after JJ Abrams announcement at the Beyond event. Even if it was the right move legally, it still looks bad.

 

I gotta ask because I've been trying to follow along with all this and one question keeps pounding in my brain: Does anybody actually care if Axanar gets made or not?

OK, granted, anybody who actually contributed money to these poseurs sure as hell cares. They deserve some kind of return on their investment, or a return of their investment, either way. That's a given. Does anybody else care?

I've seen Prelude. It is paint-drying dull. I would expect any follow on movie made by the same people to be just as dull, so after seeing Prelude I was perfectly happy to move on and forget Axanar might ever exist...until some idiot claimed it would be the greatest Trek since sliced bread and said idiot subsequently got hisself sued.

So is there a clamor for this film beyond those with a financial stake? Is there any way the quality of said film, if made, would actually be enough to wipe away all the legal fallout and serve as redemption for somebody who might not deserve to be redeemed? Is anyone out there optimistic about Axanar's awesomeness?