Yes, that's what I was saying - just using your production's name as a for-instance. I can reword the post to excise the name if it makes you uncomfortable.
CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar
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I thought I was going for an inside joke (We hear it a lot) man everyone is so.... on the edge these days.
You can hear Alec Peters discuss the fan film guidelines and the future of Axanar in a radio interview recorded yesterday (June 24):
Personally I think these so called guidelines are ridiculous. Axanar may be the catalyst for the discussion, but the underlying principals remain the same regardless of Axanar.
Podcast: http://shaneplays.com/axanar-star-trek-fan-film-guidelines-radio-show-podcast-ep-56/
YouTube version (audio only):
Personally I think these so called guidelines are ridiculous. Axanar may be the catalyst for the discussion, but the underlying principals remain the same regardless of Axanar.
Podcast: http://shaneplays.com/axanar-star-trek-fan-film-guidelines-radio-show-podcast-ep-56/
YouTube version (audio only):
Why are they ridiculous?
The only two areas fan films should be held liable legally to is if 1) they can be shown to be making a profit off of your IP and 2) if it can somehow be argued they are damaging your brand.
All of this other stuff is just massive overreach and jerkiness. I rather hope the fan film community ups the warp factor and moves forward with their projects.
In order for that to happen, you would need to change copyright laws.
Copyright violations don't require a profit to be had, nor damage to a brand.
Fan films are all in violation of copyright because they are taking IP that doesn't belong to them. Period. Copyright protection is there for any creator of IP, be it a mega-corporation or an individual.
Well, if that's the tack you take (which you are of course welcome to), then you must also consider that in the case of CBS and Paramount questions have been raised in regards to which portions of the IP is owned by whom, and also the chain of custody as it were over the decades.
And we can armchair laywer all we want on copyright law and fair use and etc etc but until a case is actually tried no one knows how this will all pan out.
Legalities aside, Star Trek fandom has kept the IP healthy over the years when the IP custodians have neglected it, so from a philosophical perspective it just seems unwise to me to be this draconian about it.
And we can armchair laywer all we want on copyright law and fair use and etc etc but until a case is actually tried no one knows how this will all pan out.
Legalities aside, Star Trek fandom has kept the IP healthy over the years when the IP custodians have neglected it, so from a philosophical perspective it just seems unwise to me to be this draconian about it.
Nope.
Can you think of any productions that have a company store, used the IP to fund a studio and paid at least one of their employees a salary out of the donations?
counter: I think security on your bank account is ridiculous. The only two areas that financial hackers should be liable legally to is if 1) they can be shown to be making a profit off your money and 2) if it can somehow be argued that they are damaging the credibility of US presidents.
You are of course totally free argue that things *should* be any way you want. In a discussion of hypotheticals, one has to propose reasons and contrast them with the reasons for the status quo.
What makes you think that fan films should have this exemption to intellectual property law? Why the "should"?
Axanar's arguments are of the sort "they weren't using it", "fans say they want us to be the true carriers of the flame", "if enough fans protest they will have to let us do what we want". These are desires of some fans, a legally nonexistent argumentation, and a politically weak one. Do you have legal substantial arguments?
Questions without proof and evidence. Sure. However, any reasonable person recognizes that CBS and Paramount own the rights to Star Trek.
Of course, none of us will know the results of the case. But, the law is pretty clear. Profit has nothing to do with copyright violation. Just because you aren't making any money doesn't mean you can steal it.
Now, of course, there's fair use. But, then, you would have to argue that Axanar is either parody or it's transformative. Peters saying this is the real Trek and the Trek the fans want isn't a good basis for claiming it's transformative.
I disagree with your idea that CBS and Paramount neglected it. Enterprise ran until 2005, and it seems the movie was being developed shortly there after. Production began in 2007. Of course, at the same time, novels were being sold, DVDs were being sold. And remember, Enterprise lasted only 4 seasons because there weren't enough eyeballs watching it. CBS and Paramount are businesses, product takes time to develop, and if it's not profitable, they move on.
And, I'm sorry, this is hardly draconian, when the other option would be NO fan films at all. That would be draconian.
Try writing and posting fan fic in the Anne Rice universe... see how long that stays up...
Star Trek fan filmmakers have had it REALLY REALLY good, they don't realize how good they had it...
Reading comments on a handful of the announcements regarding the film guidelines, I’m getting the sense that the big corporation smashing the little guy argument is going to win on this one. It’s a perennial favourite and difficult to get away from. So short of someone like Alec declaring he’s off on holiday with the donors money and he’s now king of the ant people, I don’t think many are going to look past that to grasp the damage Axanar ultimately caused.
That's why we should remind them.
Not the ant people, Alec has declared himself king of fan films instead.
1. It's obvious that AP profited from CBS/Paramount intellectual property. That's why there is a lawsuit in progress.
2. Allowing an independent production to proceed in violating the IP willy-nilly, selling merchandise and collecting "donations" to make an unlicensed feature length film--in direct competition with the IP owner's product by their own admission--is by definition damaging the brand.
I don't get why people refuse to see what's slapping them in the face.
Axanar Productions deserves nothing less than the Vulcan Death Grip.
He just called them "so-called guidelines". The jury is still out. Discovery is still on the table, and does anyone think his books are really in order? Its amazing how fast public perceptions change on idealists who are shown to be hypocritical. Get some popcorn
How are we suppose to get up in arms if we apply common sense?
There's no such thing as common sense. If it were common, more people would have it
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