CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar

[Michael]

I love Trek, have as long as I can remember. Trek has been good to me in many ways. But I've grown a distaste mythos and hype that surrounds the franchise.

That's how I felt for a long time about Trek fandom or the media's view on Trek. Everything Trek did has to be groundbreaking, pioneering, visionary, daring and inspiring to scientists. Why the hell can't it just be a well-made science-fiction show of the 60s? No, everything has to be shrouded in myth and big tales.

Looks like Roddenberry.com is taking a stance on this. A really odd one too.
https://www.facebook.com/roddenberr...39143388143/10153272651953144/?type=3&theater

I don't know if I would call that a stance........Just a meme. Until I see an actual statement I'll let it good as that.

How more official can it get than two whole articles about the case? Here and here.

 

[SuperSpaceMan]

I do have a question... Considering the rumors that Peters has some sort of trade mark or copyright of the Ares... Could that too be used by CBS to demonstrate that he intended to get some personal gain out of the project?

 

[Karzak]

I also find it quite hilarious that the Axanar facebook page is 95% skewed the other way

They're deleting dissenting posts for "trolling", despite Peters' claims of being open and willing to discuss.

That's nothing new. They curate that FB page very precisely to omit any negative or challenging discussion. If you aren't there to suck up and tell them how wonderful they are, you get banned.

 

[Smoked Salmon]

 

[Smoked Salmon]

I also find it quite hilarious that the Axanar facebook page is 95% skewed the other way

They're deleting dissenting posts for "trolling", despite Peters' claims of being open and willing to discuss.

I have had posts deleted, posts questioning whether or not monies from the Kickstarter went into the infrastructure of Ares Studios.... And by continuity pointing out that the whole non profit thing isn't a legal fair use thing, but a CBS line in the sand for fan productions, so to me it seems his salary crosses that line... I have been banned....

That sort of conduct suggests heavily that he not only wants an echo chamber but has something to hide.

 

[Smoked Salmon]

I do have a question... Considering the rumors that Peters has some sort of trade mark or copyright of the Ares... Could that too be used by CBS to demonstrate that he intended to get some personal gain out of the project?

I don't see how that could ever be valid.

 

[JoeZhang]

EVERYTHING COSTS MORE WHEN YOU ARE A PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTION NOT A FAN FILM.


How the hell do they think they will explain this away in court?

 

[oswriter]

Hey all, I have a new post up. Nothing major but I wanted to address a minor point a commenter raised to me about whether the Garth/Axanar story was such a minor thing it would justify a fair use argument. I point out there actually is recent material from a licensed Star Trek work that addresses Axanar.

 

[Indysolo]

"EVERYTHING costs more when you are a professional production and not a fan film".

Yeah, like getting sued by CBS and Paramount.

Neil

 

[Campe]

I also find it quite hilarious that the Axanar facebook page is 95% skewed the other way

They're deleting dissenting posts for "trolling", despite Peters' claims of being open and willing to discuss.

That's nothing new. They curate that FB page very precisely to omit any negative or challenging discussion. If you aren't there to suck up and tell them how wonderful they are, you get banned.

Ah, but the nice thing is... Anything deleted by those twerps actually stays on Facebook's servers. If the pages are subpoenaed by CBS/Paramount, Facebook will have to produce them all. It's not necessarily relevant to the case at hand and will not necessarily help with the court of public opinion, but it's there.

 

[oswriter]

I do have a question... Considering the rumors that Peters has some sort of trade mark or copyright of the Ares... Could that too be used by CBS to demonstrate that he intended to get some personal gain out of the project?

I found no evidence of a trademark or copyright registered for Axanar or Prelude. Nor did I find anything regarding the Ares in a preliminary trademark search.

 

[mos6507]

As for the "second coming" tbh I have had enough of hearing people insist that whatever fan film they are talking about is the "real" Star Trek while the actual one made by the people who own it isn't (not just JJ as there are people on boards like this who insist the other shows aren't real Trek either).

If Alec IS going to be tried in the court of public opinion, IMHO, then the "but everyone else is doing it!" argument matters. It might not matter in court, but it matters as far as overall sympathies of bystanders.

So on the "bite the hand that feeds it" count of bashing JJ Trek and saying "we're true Trek", here is New Voyages doing it more, um, metaphorically and tongue in cheek:

https://vimeo.com/101235559

And remember that Cawley was given a cameo in Trek 2009 and then wrote (to those of us who hadn't seen it yet) how amazing the bridge looked, that everything "worked". When the film came out I was shocked that a TOS purist who is obsessed with recreating the retro 60s vibe would find something to compliment about the Applestore design.

 

[Smoked Salmon]

https://drive.google.com/a/kd-law.co.uk/file/d/0BxWHYHfCkIj2dFA3QlZaRFdLeDQ/view?pref=2&pli=1

 

[oswriter]

They're deleting dissenting posts for "trolling", despite Peters' claims of being open and willing to discuss.

That's nothing new. They curate that FB page very precisely to omit any negative or challenging discussion. If you aren't there to suck up and tell them how wonderful they are, you get banned.

Ah, but the nice thing is... Anything deleted by those twerps actually stays on Facebook's servers. If the pages are subpoenaed by CBS/Paramount, Facebook will have to produce them all. It's not necessarily relevant to the case at hand and will not necessarily help with the court of public opinion, but it's there.

I don't think they'll need to go digging that deep. There's several hours of Peters and Burnett talking on their Trek.fm podcast where they do nothing but talk about their master plan.

Incidentally, I hope the Trek.fm folks don't get dragged too much into this. They could be among the "JOHN DOE" defendants yet to be named.

 

[Smoked Salmon]

As for the "second coming" tbh I have had enough of hearing people insist that whatever fan film they are talking about is the "real" Star Trek while the actual one made by the people who own it isn't (not just JJ as there are people on boards like this who insist the other shows aren't real Trek either).

If Alec IS going to be tried in the court of public opinion, IMHO, then the "but everyone else is doing it!" argument matters. It might not matter in court, but it matters as far as overall sympathies of bystanders.

So on the "bite the hand that feeds it" count of bashing JJ Trek and saying "we're true Trek", here is New Voyages doing it more, um, metaphorically and tongue in cheek:

https://vimeo.com/101235559

And remember that Cawley was given a cameo in Trek 2009 and then wrote (to those of us who hadn't seen it yet) how amazing the bridge looked, that everything "worked". When the film came out I was shocked that a TOS purist who is obsessed with recreating the retro 60s vibe would find something to complement about the Applestore design.

That's generally known as "brown nosing".

 

[Karzak]

"EVERYTHING costs more when you are a professional production and not a fan film".

Yeah, like getting sued by CBS and Paramount.

Neil

 

[Karzak]

https://drive.google.com/a/kd-law.co.uk/file/d/0BxWHYHfCkIj2dFA3QlZaRFdLeDQ/view?pref=2&pli=1

Is this the new budget from a few weeks ago, or is this the older one?

 

[oswriter]

https://drive.google.com/a/kd-law.co.uk/file/d/0BxWHYHfCkIj2dFA3QlZaRFdLeDQ/view?pref=2&pli=1

Thanks for this. First thing I noticed: Yeah, these financial statements aren't audited or sworn to in an affidavit under penalty of perjury.

 

[Smoked Salmon]

https://drive.google.com/a/kd-law.co.uk/file/d/0BxWHYHfCkIj2dFA3QlZaRFdLeDQ/view?pref=2&pli=1

Is this the new budget from a few weeks ago, or is this the older one?

No idea. The introduction suggests it's recent.

 

[Karzak]

https://drive.google.com/a/kd-law.co.uk/file/d/0BxWHYHfCkIj2dFA3QlZaRFdLeDQ/view?pref=2&pli=1

Axanar is a professional production in that we do pay people who work on the
production. This is not a group of fans getting together and having a great time
playing Star Trek (although we certainly enjoy it). That means we do things like
a studio would. And of course, it also means things cost more. We don’t cut
corners, and we think the results speak for themselves. Prelude to Axanar is the
only Star Trek fan film that looks like it came from a modern Hollywood studio.

But, behaving like a professional production means everything costs more
money. No other fan film has production insurance like we do. (We pay $12,000
a year for that, alone.) Our volunteers are actually covered by Worker’s
Compensation Insurance! As with any business, all utilities cost more, and there
are numerous permits and periodic inspections which must be paid. Plus,
we’re based in Los Angeles, where everything costs more. But in the end, what
you get is a higher-quality production.

Good lord. CBS is going sink this guy.