CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar

[Jon1701]

Why $38,000 a year for Alec Peters by the way?

Why not $8000 or $48,000?

Who decided this?

 

[Maurice]

A fan film is a film or video inspired by a film, television program, comic book or a similar source, created by fans rather than by the source's copyright holders or creators. Fan filmmakers have traditionally been amateurs, but some of the more notable films have actually been produced by professional filmmakers as film school class projects or as demonstration reels.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_film

All apples are fruit, but all fruits are not apples.

Someone mentioned that the term "Axanar" was non-copyrightable, or perhaps non-trademarked. Does anyone know anything more of this?

From what I've gathered, "Axanar" was a term invented for The Original Series (and extrapolated on in licensed fiction, Enterprise, and the remastered Next Generation). Federation or Starfleet should be more free to use than "Axanar" itself.

That might've been me. You can't Copyright a word. You can Trademark one, though, and I don't believe the word Axanar has been Trademarked to date. However, since the word Axanar is associated with the character of Garth who is lovingly ripped from Star Trek, anyone trying to Trademark that name for use in a Trek knockoff is going to have fight on their hands.

So this caught my eye in the Axanar annual report:

Government Red Tape - As of the writing of this document in September 2015, we have been working for six months trying to get the city and county to approve our plans for building out our offices and wardrobe/makeup rooms. Tenant improvements should have been easy, but the city and county want you to jump through innumerable hoops, and this meant hiring an architect, which ran $11,000 (and even that was a third of our first quote!). Government fees have been over $3,000 so far.

Any thoughts?

Now, I can't speak to their specific plans, so this is totally outside-looking-in-stuff, but putting my Producer Hat on, they didn't need to do this for one film. One could've rented a couple of trailers for the shooting weeks for makeup and wardrobe thus circumventing the entire issue. As I said over on Facebook, if they wanted to spend their money wisely they could have rented a smaller building in which to build and store set components, then move into a larger "stage" building closer to the actual production start. But looking at if from the outside it sure looks like this this is about building a business more than making a movie.

 

[Mudd]

Well in Cali with the studios be the largest employer, how many jurors would vote for a IP thief
.

Make the jury up of people who work in convenience stores, shops and who park cars in LA. The plaintiffs may not know they're on trial but the jury will vote to hang them anyway.

 

[oswriter]

Why $38,000 a year for Alec Peters by the way?

Why not $8000 or $48,000?

Who decided this?

This is a good question, especially if Axanar Productions does plan to seek tax-exempt status. While nonprofit corporations may certainly compensate their executives, the IRS needs to see evidence of a process in place for determining compensation that avoids or minimizes any conflict of interest. Typically you have a committee of the board of directors--people who are independent of the CEO--review any compensation package.

 

[oswriter]

So we've talked about lawyers, but we've negelected to mention our judge. This case has been assigned to Judge R. Gary Klausner of the Central District of California. I don't have much on him, other than that he's 74 and has served as a judge at the state or federal level since the 1970s.

I did find one notable copyright lawsuit in his recent history. Jackson Browne sued John McCain for using one of his songs in a 2008 campaign video without permission. Judge Klausner denied McCain's motion to dismiss, saying that was not appropriate vehicle for assessing a "fair use" defense. McCain ultimately settled.

 

[Ion]

So we've talked about lawyers, but we've negelected to mention our judge. This case has been assigned to Judge R. Gary Klausner of the Central District of California. I don't have much on him, other than that he's 74 and has served as a judge at the state or federal level since the 1970s.

Peters should probably be worried just by his age alone. Perhaps it's unfair of me, but my experience has been that many older folk don't often have a whole lot of patience for the more annoying antics of younger adults unless they're actual children.

Peters perpetrates a whole lot of annoying antics.

 

[Kastrol]

So we've talked about lawyers, but we've negelected to mention our judge. This case has been assigned to Judge R. Gary Klausner of the Central District of California. I don't have much on him, other than that he's 74 and has served as a judge at the state or federal level since the 1970s.

I did find one notable copyright lawsuit in his recent history. Jackson Browne sued John McCain for using one of his songs in a 2008 campaign video without permission. Judge Klausner denied McCain's motion to dismiss, saying that was not appropriate vehicle for assessing a "fair use" defense. McCain ultimately settled.

I have visions of Boston Legal...

 

[Mudd]

I really don't imagine that Peters will misbehave in a courtroom. He'll sit quietly and do as his lawyer instructs.

 

[Ion]

I really don't imagine that Peters will misbehave in a courtroom. He'll sit quietly and do as his lawyer instructs.

I was referring more to the his general antics outside the courtroom, which may come up over the course of the case. Everything I've heard about him indicates that he actually comes off as a nice guy in person.

 

[HMS Ark Royal]

Wouldn't it be nice if somebody could go to this and let us know what happens

 

[Maurice]

Wouldn't it be nice if somebody could go to this and let us know what happens

Karzak will be there, sharpening his bat'leth... or his incisors.

 

[Ion]

I saw someone mention that they don't have access to PACER way back in the thread. When I considered looking into the judge (which I'm actually too lazy to do right at the moment), I finally got curious enough to check it out; it's not actually that expensive, or hard to get into:

PACER Fee Schedule

If you stay below the $15-per-quarter limit, it's actually free.

Not sure if anyone cares, but if so, now you know.

 

[HMS Ark Royal]

Wouldn't it be nice if somebody could go to this and let us know what happens

Karzak will be there, sharpening his bat'leth... or his incisors.

 

[Firebird]

Why $38,000 a year for Alec Peters by the way?

Why not $8000 or $48,000?

Who decided this?

His ego?

 

[Methuslah]

So we've talked about lawyers, but we've negelected to mention our judge. This case has been assigned to Judge R. Gary Klausner of the Central District of California. I don't have much on him, other than that he's 74 and has served as a judge at the state or federal level since the 1970s.

I did find one notable copyright lawsuit in his recent history. Jackson Browne sued John McCain for using one of his songs in a 2008 campaign video without permission. Judge Klausner denied McCain's motion to dismiss, saying that was not appropriate vehicle for assessing a "fair use" defense. McCain ultimately settled.

This link might be interesting on Judge Klausner...

http://www.therobingroom.com/Judge.aspx?id=54#21953

I especially liked this comment:

"Pro government and pro institution, not so much pro no-name litigants. If you're up against a large corporation or the government, you will have a tough mountain to climb."

 

[Karzak]

So we've talked about lawyers, but we've negelected to mention our judge. This case has been assigned to Judge R. Gary Klausner of the Central District of California. I don't have much on him, other than that he's 74 and has served as a judge at the state or federal level since the 1970s.

I did find one notable copyright lawsuit in his recent history. Jackson Browne sued John McCain for using one of his songs in a 2008 campaign video without permission. Judge Klausner denied McCain's motion to dismiss, saying that was not appropriate vehicle for assessing a "fair use" defense. McCain ultimately settled.

This link might be interesting on Judge Klausner...

http://www.therobingroom.com/Judge.aspx?id=54#21953

I especially liked this comment:

"Pro government and pro institution, not so much pro no-name litigants. If you're up against a large corporation or the government, you will have a tough mountain to climb."

This one is interesting as well:

Does not certify class actions. Refuses all requests for extensions of time, even when stipulated by both sides. Sets trial dates out 12 months from complaint filing date, even when the parties stipulate to a longer case schedule.

 

[SeerSGB]

So we've talked about lawyers, but we've negelected to mention our judge. This case has been assigned to Judge R. Gary Klausner of the Central District of California. I don't have much on him, other than that he's 74 and has served as a judge at the state or federal level since the 1970s.

I did find one notable copyright lawsuit in his recent history. Jackson Browne sued John McCain for using one of his songs in a 2008 campaign video without permission. Judge Klausner denied McCain's motion to dismiss, saying that was not appropriate vehicle for assessing a "fair use" defense. McCain ultimately settled.

This link might be interesting on Judge Klausner...

http://www.therobingroom.com/Judge.aspx?id=54#21953

I especially liked this comment:

"Pro government and pro institution, not so much pro no-name litigants. If you're up against a large corporation or the government, you will have a tough mountain to climb."

Pro-govt/company, Conservative, older judge...oh they're so fucked

 

[HMS Ark Royal]

Given his age, what happens if the good Judge goes to the courtroom in the sky?

 

[oswriter]

Given his age, what happens if the good Judge goes to the courtroom in the sky?

Clerk randomly reassigns the case to another judge.

 

[Maurice]

Given his age, what happens if the good Judge goes to the courtroom in the sky?

Project Genesis. Or magic blood.