CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar

[Maurice]

Honestly, he's a fool if he didn't do basic homework on the legality of what he's doing, especially the moment he stepped from making a "fanfilm" to paying staff (himself) and opening a "store" trading on CBS/Paramount I.P. and talking about books and ancillary products. That's not excusable by mere ignorance, that's WILLFUL ignorance.

 

[JoeZhang]

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?

http://www.axanarproductions.com/casting-axanar/

 

[oswriter]

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?

http://www.axanarproductions.com/casting-axanar/

So this means his entire main cast will be SAG-AFTRA members? Or, put another way, in what way is this still a "fan film"?

 

[Campe]

Well, at least he's humble enough to realize he's a terrible actor.

But its not near enough to stop this lawsuit. And the discussion of "future installments of The Four Years War" is just asinine to say the least.

 

[Smoked Salmon]

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)

That may be so, but there's a difference between looking up an authority and assuming you can rely on it and having a working knowledge of a particular field of law, including the relationship between various court precedents and statutory law. Anyone can look up a court decision, but a good litigation lawyer will also knows what other decisions say and therefore what the counter arguments are against any given course of action. It's never enough to say "this authority says X so I'm okay". If you look at the Axanar accounts they actually spent a relatively small amount on legal advice, and there's a whole magnitude of legal issues that come with a production like this. They only spent a few grand. Rights issues, employment issues, tax issues and so on. So at the very most Peters' only obtained a but of cursory initial advice on each of the areas of legality, or perhaps even just didn't take advice at all on some (speculation on my part, granted).

Frankly I think Peters' assertions that he's a lawyer and knows better than others is insulting to those of us that have put years of hard work into our careers.

 

[Smoked Salmon]

Do we know this for a fact?

http://www.axanarproductions.com/casting-axanar/

So this means his entire main cast will be SAG-AFTRA members? Or, put another way, in what way is this still a "fan film"?

I think we must get out of the habit of even passing reference to this being a fan film. It isn't, and we all agree on that.

 

[Smoked Salmon]

Well, at least he's humble enough to realize he's a terrible actor.

But its not near enough to stop this lawsuit. And the discussion of "future installments of The Four Years War" is just asinine to say the least.

Clearly he is arrogant enough to assume he can survive the litigation.

 

[oswriter]

If you look at the Axanar accounts they actually spent a relatively small amount on legal advice, and there's a whole magnitude of legal issues that come with a production like this. They only spent a few grand. Rights issues, employment issues, tax issues and so on. So at the very most Peters' only obtained a but of cursory initial advice on each of the areas of legality, or perhaps even just didn't take advice at all on some (speculation on my part, granted).

The impression you get from his annual report is that he's honestly just making all of this up as he goes along. You don't see much evidence of actual planning, which would include obtaining proper financial and legal advice at the outset.

 

[Khan 2.0]

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.

please tell it now!

 

[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.

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

The other day he was claiming that someone was going to act for him pro bono. Perhaps they aren't acting as of today so he's in full blown litigant in person mode. That'd be a ticket to failure if ever there was one.

 

[oswriter]

http://www.axanarproductions.com/casting-axanar/

So this means his entire main cast will be SAG-AFTRA members? Or, put another way, in what way is this still a "fan film"?

I think we must get out of the habit of even passing reference to this being a fan film. It isn't, and we all agree on that.

Agreed.

 

[Smoked Salmon]

If you look at the Axanar accounts they actually spent a relatively small amount on legal advice, and there's a whole magnitude of legal issues that come with a production like this. They only spent a few grand. Rights issues, employment issues, tax issues and so on. So at the very most Peters' only obtained a but of cursory initial advice on each of the areas of legality, or perhaps even just didn't take advice at all on some (speculation on my part, granted).

The impression you get from his annual report is that he's honestly just making all of this up as he goes along. You don't see much evidence of actual planning, which would include obtaining proper financial and legal advice at the outset.

That's my point.

 

[SuperSpaceMan]

To our legal folks here.... Do you think, Peters moving forward with production sort of in defiance of CBS, before the injunction hearing could impact the judges decision to go ahead and install the injunction against Axanar?

What I mean is, this mornings announcement seems reckless, do you think a judge would consider that in his decision?

 

[oswriter]

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.

The other day he was claiming that someone was going to act for him pro bono. Perhaps they aren't acting as of today so he's in full blown litigant in person mode. That'd be a ticket to failure if ever there was one.

Of course, he still needs some sort of an attorney to represent Axanar Productions. As you well know, a fool can represent himself, but not a corporation.

 

[Smoked Salmon]

To our legal folks here.... Do you think, Peters moving forward with production sort of in defiance of CBS, before the injunction hearing could impact the judges decision to go ahead and install the injunction against Axanar?

What I mean is, this mornings announcement seems reckless, do you think a judge would consider that in his decision?

If anything it demonstrates to the court the need for the injunction as the situation now could be very different for what exists by the time it comes to trial.

Peters is a very stupid, and arrogant, man IMO.

 

[oswriter]

To our legal folks here.... Do you think, Peters moving forward with production sort of in defiance of CBS, before the injunction hearing could impact the judges decision to go ahead and install the injunction against Axanar?

What I mean is, this mornings announcement seems reckless, do you think a judge would consider that in his decision?

Hard to say what a particular judge might or might not consider relevant, but I doubt this announcement hurts Peters any more than any other action he's taken to this point.

 

[KennyB]

Hard to say what a particular judge might or might not consider relevant, but I doubt this announcement hurts Peters any more than any other action he's taken to this point.

I would have been on complete "run silent, run deep" mode if I had been in his shoes over the weekend, until I was advised on EXACTLY how to handle things.

 

[Mudd]

http://www.axanarproductions.com/casting-axanar/

So this means his entire main cast will be SAG-AFTRA members? Or, put another way, in what way is this still a "fan film"?

I think we must get out of the habit of even passing reference to this being a fan film. It isn't, and we all agree on that.

Exactly.

The "CBS is suing fans" narrative is evasive bullshit at this point.

CBS is suing a million-dollar California corporation for stealing its IP and using it commercially.

 

[SuperSpaceMan]

If you look at the Axanar accounts they actually spent a relatively small amount on legal advice, and there's a whole magnitude of legal issues that come with a production like this. They only spent a few grand. Rights issues, employment issues, tax issues and so on. So at the very most Peters' only obtained a but of cursory initial advice on each of the areas of legality, or perhaps even just didn't take advice at all on some (speculation on my part, granted).

The impression you get from his annual report is that he's honestly just making all of this up as he goes along. You don't see much evidence of actual planning, which would include obtaining proper financial and legal advice at the outset.

The shifting narrative.. specifically about the money, and the studio I think is certainly evidence that he really hadn't thought much of this through...

 

[Earthrise]

Do we know this for a fact?

http://www.axanarproductions.com/casting-axanar/

So this means his entire main cast will be SAG-AFTRA members? Or, put another way, in what way is this still a "fan film"?

Going by what Peters is saying, it isn't. From the link:

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

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.

What I just don't quite understand is what's in it for the actors? Are they insulated from any fallout on this, thus making it a reasonable job opportunity for them? Or are they going to run like hell when the casting director calls?

It just seems like being a part of a production that CBS and Paramount, two big employers of actors, most likely consider outlaw might not be the best career move.