"Alec Peters saved Star Trek fan films." - Slow Lane
WUT????
There's a warm wind blowing in from Minicoy.
CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar
- Thread starter Richard Baker
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WUT????
There's a warm wind blowing in from Minicoy.
Saved it like the ransomware that wasn't able to get at *all* your network's computers this time.
Your pantry containers are missing some of their contents. Guidelines may keep house guests from helping themselves excessively. But if its vermin gnawing their way in, you first have to use glass or metal containers, then put those in a cabinet, before house guest guidelines will be good enough.
This will probably lead to CBS/P saying they have to preapprove projects. If they are willing to do that much.
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I think there are legal reasons why they wouldn't want to pre-approve projects. I don't claim to be an expert, but something about the ideas just goes "clunk".
If it wasn't so damn funny it would be hilarious.
I mean sad.
No, I'm going with hilarious.
Exactly. Peters does whatever he wants and everyone pays for it
CBS and Paramount can't "approve" non-licensed projects. It would open up a Pandora's Box of challenges to the copyrights and trademarks. That's why there was always an unspoken agreement that fan stuff would tread carefully just under the line of infringement.
He does whatever he wants while the True Fans do his dirty work and pay him for the privilege.
Just take my money!He does whatever he wants while the True Fans do his dirty work and pay him for the privilege.
Saying Alec saved fan films is like a robber publicly shooting a victim, robbing them, then bring them to a hospital and then being awarded they key to the city or something.
Even the most wonderful and compliant fan films are violating copyright and IP laws. CBS has stated that as long as certain criteria are followed, they will not pursue enforcement/litigation. IT'S STILL INFRINGEMENT.
Any type of vetting other than "this does not adhere to the guidelines" can be interpreted as "CBS gives permissions" which means it may be construed as license.
They need to scrupulously avoid even the suggestion that fan films have some sort of license or believe to have a licensing agreement.
Interesting why CBS/P could never go down the path of preapproval, since it would give away rights or be worked by somebody to try to construe that.
Unfortunately, I just don't see how any corporation is going to tolerate an ever morphing run at the 'non fan turf' of hour long shows/movies and serialization of characters. Handful of living jello, anyone?
It does look like Alec is trying to plant the seeds of this situation with his planned Axanar convention (what is there to convene about if his production is the end of it) and 'granting rights' to the story in various media and inviting fans to make 'the other parts' of the story that's supposed to be boxed into his 'parts 4 and 5'.
Its like he wants to bring down the fan film house. Excuse... "save" it.
His acolytes clearly think they have the basis of a "movement" which somehow has the right to make unlimited connected story lines "because they care so much". A real shame they are still being sold this as grounds to go out and proliferate the IP violation.
Unfortunately, I just don't see how any corporation is going to tolerate an ever morphing run at the 'non fan turf' of hour long shows/movies and serialization of characters. Handful of living jello, anyone?
It does look like Alec is trying to plant the seeds of this situation with his planned Axanar convention (what is there to convene about if his production is the end of it) and 'granting rights' to the story in various media and inviting fans to make 'the other parts' of the story that's supposed to be boxed into his 'parts 4 and 5'.
Its like he wants to bring down the fan film house. Excuse... "save" it.
His acolytes clearly think they have the basis of a "movement" which somehow has the right to make unlimited connected story lines "because they care so much". A real shame they are still being sold this as grounds to go out and proliferate the IP violation.
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In theory, CBS licensing *could* come to an arrangement to officially sanction "independent" (i.e. fan) films based on the star trek property. Once it's licensed, then it's subject to various royalty agreements, union regulations and such that is far more complex and expensive, the film producers would have to be under studio control, etc.
It's far easier to just look the other way but leave the threat of a lawsuit hanging.
It's far easier to just look the other way but leave the threat of a lawsuit hanging.
IIRC, when they were first doing Enterprise, they wanted to make the Vulcan 1st officer a young T'Pau, first seen as elderly from "Amok Time", but ran into legal issues over using the TOS character, so they made her T'Pol. I believe it was a similar issue over licensing the name of the character from the estate of the original writer, Theodore Sturgeon. Perhaps it was a Writers Guild contract thing, but I would think that Paramount definitively owned and copyrighted all characters in Star Trek, regardless of who made them up.
This was obviously later worked out by the time that the fourth season came around when they finally succeeded in using the character, so even though it's kind of "in the family", there is some precedent for it.
This brings up another tangential question, though: Who owns the characters? Shouldn't it have been Lee Erwin's estate suing AP for appropriating the Garth of Izar character then and not CBS/Paramount? Kinda confused now...
This was obviously later worked out by the time that the fourth season came around when they finally succeeded in using the character, so even though it's kind of "in the family", there is some precedent for it.
This brings up another tangential question, though: Who owns the characters? Shouldn't it have been Lee Erwin's estate suing AP for appropriating the Garth of Izar character then and not CBS/Paramount? Kinda confused now...
The characters are usually owned by the person who created them (unless they ceede such rights in their contract agreement.)
Same thing with ST:VOY: Robert Duncan McNeil was going to reprise the character of "Nicholas Locarno" (from TNG's - "The First Duty") and that was going to be his character on ST:YOY - BUT, they ran into a royalty issue with the writer of the episode per WGA rules, where they'd need to pay a royalty for EVERY episode the character was in - so the character became "Tom Paris" and had a similar 'bad boy - Academy dropout' backstory.
Ok, then take off the last two words: "That's why there was always an unspoken agreement that fan stuff would tread carefully just under the line."
Maybe that was true in American TV in the 60s -- though, I doubt it -- but, certainly now, writing for TV is work for hire, you don't get to own the characters you create.
Exactly. You don't own the character, but, you would get a royalty used for that character. Why pay someone extra money when it's just as simple to create a brand new similar character?
It's true in films as well. If you are the writer of a movie that goes on to have sequels, even if you are not involved, you still get a cut because you created the characters. But, of course, you might not have any say in how those characters are used, because, you don't own them.
Well they just said "The Time Portal" rather than call the Guardian by name. I'm not sure if that was enough to get around anything.
Time vortex.
And, no.
Kirk not only mentions "the Guardian" but also addressed the Guardian as "Guardian."
Did Harlan Ellison receive any compensation for "Yesteryear"? It's an excellent question.
Thanks for refreshing my memory. One would assume he received compensation, otherwise I think we'd never have heard the end of it.
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