CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar 2 - Electric Boogaloo-Fanboys gone WILD-too many hyphens

[137th Gebirg]

But can he actually make a living from this grift? Especially in the current US economy…

It has worked for him so far, for an absurdly long amount of time (11 years now?). Even after several lost lawsuits, he’s still chugging away out there. It’s possible he has some other irons in the fire that the Trek fandom in general doesn’t know about. Could also be possible that the US economy is not quite as bad as the legacy media would have us be fearful of.

 

[nightwind1]

^^^ Alex is naked, in his parent's basement, furiously writing down ideas right now...

Furiously doing SOMETHING, anyway.

 

[tharpdevenport]

Furiously doing SOMETHING, anyway.

Dangle in RENO:911!: MIAMI: "Be GENTLE!!!"

 

[Noname Given]

I don't think there's much stopping him, honestly. Aesthetic designs don't have intellectual property protection in the US*, and it's not an official ship with an official name anyway. There's no legal barrier to selling a model of a spaceship called U.S.S. Ares. You could probably get away with even selling a model of the TOS Enterprise as long as the box said something like "Future Space Exploration Cruiser circa 2266" and not the trademarked phrases "Star Trek" or "Starship Enterprise." That was a fairly common practice in aftermarket Star Trek model kits back in the day, though now that distribution is so much easier, people are a lot less circumspect about not using potentially-protected names or phrases. Getting a dozen resin kits you hand-molded smashed is a lot more trouble than having a 3D-printable model taken offline, especially since you can just reupload the latter with a different name.

Alec in particular might be limited by his legal agreement with Paramount/CBS, but IIRC, the restrictions were fairly narrow, mostly to get him to stop representing merch as official Star Trek product.

*This is why luxury brands can be so garishly over the top about their logos. There's nothing stopping you from selling a handbag that's exactly the same shape as a Louis Vuitton purse, but their distinctive "LV" logo and patterns that are stitched, printed, or embossed into the material are protected under trademark law, so you can't legally duplicate that.

Part of the Settlement with Paramount outlined VERY SPECIFICALLY what Alec coul;d do - and "selling related models/merchandise" was probably NOT part of what was allowed. (That's a guess, but I stand by it.)
^^^
BUT the above said - Paramount would have to start another lawsuit based on "Breech Of Settlment" and at this point, unless Alec Peters made/shod a crapton of these - Paramount's new owners might figure it's a waste of legal fees and turn a blind eye.

 

[tharpdevenport]

Maybe, but studios waste a lot of money on things. And Alec has created a very special sort of hell here -- he's tarnished the brand, embittered the fans, allegedly swindled people, and continues to stick his middle finger in all our faces and profit from it and continue on the ride.

If it were ME in charge, I'd take the financial hit just to make this little fuck weasel pay for this continued fuckery.

 

[Imaus]

But can he actually make a living from this grift? Especially in the current US economy. Wasn't there a fundraiser (or more than one) a few years back to 'keep the lights on' at whatever location the "studio" is currently located? Is a surely dwindling revenue stream from supporters enough?

I know there was that short "Interlude", written by the Fan Film Factor guy Johnathan Lane, and filmed/produced by the Avalon team in 2021(!), but does Peters still rent somewhere out currently?

Personally, the Ares model kit is sketchy, however it's marketed. Its lineage, despite fine design work from Sean, is tainted. I'm a Trek Starship mini fan, but I never bought any of the gaming minis available in FASA/SFB scales.

As others have stated, this is still a thing? I keep seeing Axanar Updates on YouTube, but dont watch them. But then, we probably just "30 days out"!

Axanar 'updates' are just fancy rehashes/clip 'shows' of the first two actual projects with AP harping on how it's almost done. Grew tired of watching them very quickly, (same with SC) and how, why people still watch it, I have no idea. I think he does dripfeed some new scenes, probably made by some hardworking fans with blender and so, every once in a while but not much else.

I can't believe it's been nearly a dozen years of this.

 

[Mudd]

Could also be possible that the US economy is not quite as bad as the legacy media would have us be fearful of.

It's worse than they'll admit.

The "legacy media" are part of huge corporations with vested interests everywhere. The tail can't wag the dog.

 

[Maurice]

(same with SC)

Which is what? Space Command?

 

[Jedman67]

Which is what? Space Command?

Star Trek Continues? I watched a couple of episodes and enjoyed it.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I would write STC, but YMMV.

 

[Imaus]

Star Trek Continues? I watched a couple of episodes and enjoyed it.

Star Trek Continues? I watched a couple of episodes and enjoyed it.

Oh no, STC is great, even shared it around my office. I think I mistyped something else. I know that Stage 9* sorta sank cause of this whole fiasco by proxy, maybe I was thinking of some unrelated effort trying to snag its name?

 

[Firebird]

Oh no, STC is great, even shared it around my office. I think I mistyped something else. I know that Stage 9* sorta sank cause of this whole fiasco by proxy, maybe I was thinking of some unrelated effort trying to snag its name?

I don't think the STC version of Stage 9 sinking was due to Axanar. That was a one-two punch of Vic Migogna's legal troubles forcing him to sell it off, and the guy that took it over mismanaged the finances, IIRC.