CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar

[Campe]

Thing is that one thing I believe about Peters is that he thought what he was doing was legitimate. I don't think he intentionally made fraudulent misrepresentations. I just think that he's one of these people that is so full of himself that he'd convinced himself that he could do what he could and used his self-confidence to convince others - but for some that wasn't enough. Some were smart enough to ask questions anyway.

I tend to think this as well; there's never been any intent to defraud with the aim of making a lot of money, here...just excitement about a passion project, real bad judgment with some wishful thinking and (yeah) enough arrogance in the mix to bulldoze common sense. I chatted with Alec over a group dinner in Georgia back in 2010, when he was just getting started on the whole Axanar thing. His demeanor in person is very different than the way he presents online - something I can relate to. He was quiet, friendly and earnest almost to the point of solemnity on that occasion.

I don't necessarily believe he was attempting fraud, but I can't believe that once being a lawyer, he wouldn't have realized he was stepping on very shaky ground with the level of copyright infringement he was undertaking or that this was a real possibility or that making this a full-time job and earning a salary for him and his girlfriend off of someone else's copyright was any kind of legal.

 

[Smoked Salmon]

Going over Peters' posts here, this one amused me...

You are a fan film, period. You have ZERO chance to have CBS ever pick your show up. And by claiming you do, you put all fan films in jeopardy by bringing the watchful eye of CBS legal upon us all.

 

[SPCTRE]

Of course they sued. Because Axanar is looking better than the stuff CBS / Paramount is putting out.

I really hope this case goes all the way and CBS is ruled to have insufficiently defended their copyright and it's declared public domain. Give the franchise to the fans and let them play in the sandbox. Half of the fan productions are better Trek than the Abrams stuff anyway.

 

[Smoked Salmon]

Thing is that one thing I believe about Peters is that he thought what he was doing was legitimate. I don't think he intentionally made fraudulent misrepresentations. I just think that he's one of these people that is so full of himself that he'd convinced himself that he could do what he could and used his self-confidence to convince others - but for some that wasn't enough. Some were smart enough to ask questions anyway.

I tend to think this as well; there's never been any intent to defraud with the aim of making a lot of money, here...just excitement about a passion project, real bad judgment with some wishful thinking and (yeah) enough arrogance in the mix to bulldoze common sense. I chatted with Alec over a group dinner in Georgia back in 2010, when he was just getting started on the whole Axanar thing. His demeanor in person is very different than the way he presents online - something I can relate to. He was quiet, friendly and earnest almost to the point of solemnity on that occasion.

I don't necessarily believe he was attempting fraud, but I can't believe that once being a lawyer, he wouldn't have realized he was stepping on very shaky ground with the level of copyright infringement he was undertaking or that this was a real possibility or that making this a full-time job and earning a salary for him and his girlfriend off of someone else's copyright was any kind of legal.

He's not a lawyer. He's someone who passed his exams. Much of being a lawyer is about experience.

 

[Campe]

I tend to think this as well; there's never been any intent to defraud with the aim of making a lot of money, here...just excitement about a passion project, real bad judgment with some wishful thinking and (yeah) enough arrogance in the mix to bulldoze common sense. I chatted with Alec over a group dinner in Georgia back in 2010, when he was just getting started on the whole Axanar thing. His demeanor in person is very different than the way he presents online - something I can relate to. He was quiet, friendly and earnest almost to the point of solemnity on that occasion.

I don't necessarily believe he was attempting fraud, but I can't believe that once being a lawyer, he wouldn't have realized he was stepping on very shaky ground with the level of copyright infringement he was undertaking or that this was a real possibility or that making this a full-time job and earning a salary for him and his girlfriend off of someone else's copyright was any kind of legal.

He's not a lawyer. He's someone who passed his exams. Much of being a lawyer is about experience.

I'm sorry but if the guy went to law school, I'm sure he could figure the basics out of legal research and one would think he would take the time to do that research if someone told him (and I'm sure they did) that he might be on shaky legal ground. Unless his ego got in the way.

 

[Jedman67]

Of all the characters in all the films and series in the franchise, he chose Lord Garth.

That right there should have told us everything we needed to know.

I suspect that tomorrow morning, Peters' big announcement is that he's going to have filed for non-profit status. Whether it works or helps his case I don't know, but hopefully the court will make fast work of his shenanigans soon.

His announcement this morning is that they are trying to cast the film, including a younger Garth; he"ll only play Garth for NV vignettes.

There were even plans for a Four Years War anthology book series, written by established Trek novelists from Pocket Books and in both regular and slipcase, special, signed limited editions.

.....

How were they planning to pull that off? I guess, sure, Axanar managed to lure in a bunch of Trek actors who haven't worked on Trek in years but I'd think it would be career suicide for tie-in fiction authors to write and sell unauthorized fanfic for the series they work for.

This is bizarre. It's certainly ok for an author to write a fanfic and CLEARLY LABEL it as such; not to be paid for it and sell it.

 

[Mudd]

Well, I'm sure that hordes of talented young actors will soon be busting down the doors at Ares, eager for the kind of career-making exposure one can only get from working for a non-union operation that's being sued into the ground by a couple of major studios.

Or, as Tom Hardy's agent must once have said, "Kid, it's just Star Trek - it sure isn't going to hurt you."

 

[Khan 2.0]

waiting for the Ian Malcolm JP 'selling it/could should' speech to be Axaned (or maybe Its been done already)

 

[Smoked Salmon]

I don't necessarily believe he was attempting fraud, but I can't believe that once being a lawyer, he wouldn't have realized he was stepping on very shaky ground with the level of copyright infringement he was undertaking or that this was a real possibility or that making this a full-time job and earning a salary for him and his girlfriend off of someone else's copyright was any kind of legal.

He's not a lawyer. He's someone who passed his exams. Much of being a lawyer is about experience.

I'm sorry but if the guy went to law school, I'm sure he could figure the basics out of legal research and one would think he would take the time to do that research if someone told him (and I'm sure they did) that he might be on shaky legal ground. Unless his ego got in the way.

Sometimes it's not just about research.

I've been in practice for 17 years and I can tell you that not only do you have to keep yourself abreast of changes in the law and the latest authorities throughout, but as a litigator you get a feel for tactics, the court and the way parties behave. Not only is Peters totally bereft of even a day of experience, but he's likely not to have given a crap about or even remember what he learned some 35 years ago. Hell, intellectual property law isn't a core subject of most legal courses so I doubt he even studied it in any depth.

You afford him too much credit. I've seen people who have been in practice for years who still don't have a clue of it's not their area of practice.

 

[OpenMaw]

Or, as Tom Hardy's agent must once have said, "Kid, it's just Star Trek - it sure isn't going to hurt you."

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-CKMWiKp2I[/yt]



I laughed way harder than I should have.

 

[JoeZhang]

Well, I'm sure that hordes of talented young actors will soon be busting down the doors at Ares, eager for the kind of career-making exposure one can only get from working for a non-union operation that's being sued into the ground by a couple of major studios.

"our production is already getting a lot of interest from the studio!"

He's clearly not talking to any lawyers because that blog provides further 'gifts' for CBS/Paramount:

if we want to be a professional production, then we really need a professional actor in the lead role.

and

Third, this is not a vanity project. A hallmark of fan films is the creator making himself the central character, whether that is Kirk or Pike or whomever. While that is fine for a fan film, we are shooting for something different.

 

[Maurice]

Or, as Tom Hardy's agent must once have said, "Kid, it's just Star Trek - it sure isn't going to hurt you."

I have an actual Star Trek related Hardy quote, told to me by a director who just worked with him, but I'll save that for later.

 

[JoeZhang]

He's not a lawyer. He's someone who passed his exams. Much of being a lawyer is about experience.

I'm sorry but if the guy went to law school, I'm sure he could figure the basics out of legal research and one would think he would take the time to do that research if someone told him (and I'm sure they did) that he might be on shaky legal ground. Unless his ego got in the way.

Sometimes it's not just about research.

I've been in practice for 17 years and I can tell you that not only do you have to keep yourself abreast of changes in the law and the latest authorities throughout, but as a litigator you get a feel for tactics, the court and the way parties behave. Not only is Peters totally bereft of even a day of experience, but he's likely not to have given a crap about or even remember what he learned some 35 years ago. Hell, intellectual property law isn't a core subject of most legal courses so I doubt he even studied it in any depth.

You afford him too much credit. I've seen people who have been in practice for years who still don't have a clue of it's not their area of practice.

My PhD is in information sciences - a decade later and after shifting fields I couldn't talk about it with much knowledge...

 

[Campe]

I've been in practice for 17 years and I can tell you that not only do you have to keep yourself abreast of changes in the law and the latest authorities throughout, but as a litigator you get a feel for tactics, the court and the way parties behave. Not only is Peters totally bereft of even a day of experience, but he's likely not to have given a crap about or even remember what he learned some 35 years ago. Hell, intellectual property law isn't a core subject of most legal courses so I doubt he even studied it in any depth.

That's fair. I guess, as a paralegal, and being that I do have to stay abreast of laws in my area, I take that for granted.

You afford him too much credit. I've seen people who have been in practice for years who still don't have a clue of it's not their area of practice.

Funny. I wouldn't afford him a nickel of credit. Ay-oh!

 

[SuperSpaceMan]

He's not a lawyer. He's someone who passed his exams. Much of being a lawyer is about experience.

I'm sorry but if the guy went to law school, I'm sure he could figure the basics out of legal research and one would think he would take the time to do that research if someone told him (and I'm sure they did) that he might be on shaky legal ground. Unless his ego got in the way.

Sometimes it's not just about research.

I've been in practice for 17 years and I can tell you that not only do you have to keep yourself abreast of changes in the law and the latest authorities throughout, but as a litigator you get a feel for tactics, the court and the way parties behave. Not only is Peters totally bereft of even a day of experience, but he's likely not to have given a crap about or even remember what he learned some 35 years ago. Hell, intellectual property law isn't a core subject of most legal courses so I doubt he even studied it in any depth.

You afford him too much credit. I've seen people who has been in practice for years who still don't have a clue of it's not their area of practice.

Well, the dude uses Argument from Authority, ALL The time.... so it's easy to do that... (Give him too much credit)

 

[Smoked Salmon]

His announcement this morning is that they are trying to cast the film, including a younger Garth; he"ll only play Garth for NV vignettes.

Amazing. I can only assume he's ignoring legal advice. If I were acting for him I'd have told him quite explicitly not to engage any further employees pending the court's decision on (at the very least) the application for an injunction.

 

[JoeZhang]

Amazing. I can only assume he's ignoring legal advice.

We even sure he's had any legal advice?

 

[oswriter]

He's not a lawyer. He's someone who passed his exams. Much of being a lawyer is about experience.

I'm sorry but if the guy went to law school, I'm sure he could figure the basics out of legal research and one would think he would take the time to do that research if someone told him (and I'm sure they did) that he might be on shaky legal ground. Unless his ego got in the way.

Sometimes it's not just about research.

I've been in practice for 17 years and I can tell you that not only do you have to keep yourself abreast of changes in the law and the latest authorities throughout, but as a litigator you get a feel for tactics, the court and the way parties behave. Not only is Peters totally bereft of even a day of experience, but he's likely not to have given a crap about or even remember what he learned some 35 years ago. Hell, intellectual property law isn't a core subject of most legal courses so I doubt he even studied it in any depth.

You afford him too much credit. I've seen people who have been in practice for years who still don't have a clue of it's not their area of practice.

Indeed, I still freelance paralegal on occasion, and I've seen lawyers who are not up-to-date within their own specialty. Doesn't even mean they're bad lawyers, just that this law stuff is complicated.

 

[Campe]

His announcement this morning is that they are trying to cast the film, including a younger Garth; he"ll only play Garth for NV vignettes.

Do we know this for a fact?

 

[Turbo]

His announcement this morning is that they are trying to cast the film, including a younger Garth; he"ll only play Garth for NV vignettes.

Amazing. I can only assume he's ignoring legal advice. If I were acting for him I'd have told him quite explicitly not to engage any further employees pending the court's decision on (at the very least) the application for an injunction.

Agreed. Either that or his law firm is taking him for a ride.