CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar

[JE Smith]

By the way, this photo of Peters and his girlfriend at their last production meeting is a hoot.

LOL.

 

[Smoked Salmon]

If they don't legally own the copyright to the content they are producing, it's a fan film. It may not be an amateur film, but it's still a fan film.

I disagree entirely. It's a professional film that uses an IP without authorisation. There's nothing "fan" about it beyond the fact that some of those working on it are Trek fans.

Your disagreement is irrelevant. If you don't own (or are licensed to use) the IP, it is a FAN FILM, no matter what the level of production is. Why can't people understand this? Steven Spielberg could make a Firefly movie that cost 200 million dollars and was done entirely with industry professionals, but if he didn't license it properly, it would still be a fan film.

I trust you can demonstrate to me that "fan film" is a legal term.

 

[HMS Ark Royal]

Lets just General order 7 Alec and his partner be done with it

 

[Karzak]

If they don't legally own the copyright to the content they are producing, it's a fan film. It may not be an amateur film, but it's still a fan film.

I disagree entirely. It's a professional film that uses an IP without authorisation. There's nothing "fan" about it beyond the fact that some of those working on it are Trek fans.

Your disagreement is irrelevant. If you don't own (or are licensed to use) the IP, it is a FAN FILM, no matter what the level of production is. Why can't people understand this? Steven Spielberg could make a Firefly movie that cost 200 million dollars and was done entirely with industry professionals, but if he didn't license it properly, it would still be a fan film.

Shit. George Lucas could go make a Star Wars film now, and even though he created the entire goddamn franchise, all he'd be doing is making a fan film because he doesn't own Star Wars anymore.

 

[Mudd]

Your disagreement is irrelevant. If you don't own (or are licensed to use) the IP, it is a FAN FILM, no matter what the level of production is. Why can't people understand this? Steven Spielberg could make a Firefly movie that cost 200 million dollars and was done entirely with industry professionals, but if he didn't license it properly, it would still be a fan film.

None of those distinctions make a thing a "fan film."

It would make one "a film using someone's intellectual property without license or permission."

That's a mouthful, but there's just no way to get it down to a handy acronym that's pronounced or spelled as "fan film."

 

[SuperSpaceMan]

I disagree entirely. It's a professional film that uses an IP without authorisation. There's nothing "fan" about it beyond the fact that some of those working on it are Trek fans.

Your disagreement is irrelevant. If you don't own (or are licensed to use) the IP, it is a FAN FILM, no matter what the level of production is. Why can't people understand this? Steven Spielberg could make a Firefly movie that cost 200 million dollars and was done entirely with industry professionals, but if he didn't license it properly, it would still be a fan film.

Shit. George Lucas could go make a Star Wars film now, and even though he created the entire goddamn franchise, all he'd be doing is making a fan film because he doesn't own Star Wars anymore.

Stilted Dialogue... Wooden Delivery... Didn't Lucas already make 3 of those movies?

 

[The Transformed Man]

It appears Propworx simply abandoned its personal property and walked away. It's not clear to me how he's still using the Propworx name.

I wanted to ask that question but was scared to.

According to Peters, on this message board:

http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=157673&page=5

the bankruptcy trustee allowed Peters to keep the Propworx IP (business name), suggesting they knew the business would be back at some point. The majority of the debt as held by MGM so my guess is Peters basically gave MGM their property back... he probably paid some legal fees and they left it at that.

 

[Firebird]

By the way, this photo of Peters and his girlfriend at their last production meeting is a hoot.

Gotta love Arrested Development!

Soon after the trial, I suspect this will be Peters:

 

[The Transformed Man]

Your disagreement is irrelevant. If you don't own (or are licensed to use) the IP, it is a FAN FILM, no matter what the level of production is. Why can't people understand this? Steven Spielberg could make a Firefly movie that cost 200 million dollars and was done entirely with industry professionals, but if he didn't license it properly, it would still be a fan film.

Shit. George Lucas could go make a Star Wars film now, and even though he created the entire goddamn franchise, all he'd be doing is making a fan film because he doesn't own Star Wars anymore.

Stilted Dialogue... Wooden Delivery... Didn't Lucas already make 3 of those movies?

No, he made 6 of them...

 

[JE Smith]

I disagree entirely. It's a professional film that uses an IP without authorisation. There's nothing "fan" about it beyond the fact that some of those working on it are Trek fans.

Your disagreement is irrelevant. If you don't own (or are licensed to use) the IP, it is a FAN FILM, no matter what the level of production is. Why can't people understand this? Steven Spielberg could make a Firefly movie that cost 200 million dollars and was done entirely with industry professionals, but if he didn't license it properly, it would still be a fan film.

I trust you can demonstrate to me that "fan film" is a legal term.

Since when does a word/phrase have to be a "legal term" to have a distinct definition? "Dog" is not a legal term, but it is definitely "not a cat."

 

[Karzak]

By the way, this photo of Peters and his girlfriend at their last production meeting is a hoot.

Gotta love Arrested Development!

Soon after the trial, I suspect this will be Peters:

 

[JE Smith]

Your disagreement is irrelevant. If you don't own (or are licensed to use) the IP, it is a FAN FILM, no matter what the level of production is. Why can't people understand this? Steven Spielberg could make a Firefly movie that cost 200 million dollars and was done entirely with industry professionals, but if he didn't license it properly, it would still be a fan film.

None of those distinctions make a thing a "fan film."

It would make one "a film using someone's intellectual property without license or permission."

That's a mouthful, but there's just no way to get it down to a handy acronym that's pronounced or spelled as "fan film."

 

[Indysolo]

Your disagreement is irrelevant. If you don't own (or are licensed to use) the IP, it is a FAN FILM, no matter what the level of production is. Why can't people understand this? Steven Spielberg could make a Firefly movie that cost 200 million dollars and was done entirely with industry professionals, but if he didn't license it properly, it would still be a fan film.

Shit. George Lucas could go make a Star Wars film now, and even though he created the entire goddamn franchise, all he'd be doing is making a fan film because he doesn't own Star Wars anymore.

Stilted Dialogue... Wooden Delivery... Didn't Lucas already make 3 of those movies?

Shot on video and using music composed for earlier works. Hmmmm.

 

[BillJ]

Just because we don't have a handy definition for crowdsourced films that use professional talent doesn't mean they are fan films.

 

[trekker670]

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

 

[oswriter]

It appears Propworx simply abandoned its personal property and walked away. It's not clear to me how he's still using the Propworx name.

I wanted to ask that question but was scared to.

According to Peters, on this message board:

http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=157673&page=5

the bankruptcy trustee allowed Peters to keep the Propworx IP (business name), suggesting they knew the business would be back at some point. The majority of the debt as held by MGM so my guess is Peters basically gave MGM their property back... he probably paid some legal fees and they left it at that.

That makes sense with respect to the IP. As for legal fees, well, one of Propworx's unsecured creditors was a law firm owed nearly $25,000.

 

[SuperSpaceMan]

Your disagreement is irrelevant. If you don't own (or are licensed to use) the IP, it is a FAN FILM, no matter what the level of production is. Why can't people understand this? Steven Spielberg could make a Firefly movie that cost 200 million dollars and was done entirely with industry professionals, but if he didn't license it properly, it would still be a fan film.

None of those distinctions make a thing a "fan film."

It would make one "a film using someone's intellectual property without license or permission."

That's a mouthful, but there's just no way to get it down to a handy acronym that's pronounced or spelled as "fan film."

Bootleg?

 

[BillJ]

That makes sense with respect to the IP. As for legal fees, well, one of Propworx's unsecured creditors was a law firm owed nearly $25,000.

They allowed Peters' to keep the Propworx name because it had zero value.

 

[jespah]

One quick thing I want to point out - consider the talk of 'negotiating'.

CBS/Paramount does not need anything from Peters, except to get him to stop.

Peters needs, from CBS/Paramount, a means of keeping his shirt and avoiding a ton of agita, damages, etc.

The implication that these parties are even close to being on a level playing field is, eh, SMH.

There are 52 cards in a deck. CBS/Paramount has over 1,000 decks. Axanar is holding (maybe) one of those cards.

I predict negotiations will be short.

 

[oswriter]

The Propworx bankruptcy petition, for those who are interested:

http://skipoliva.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/axanar-propworx-bankruptcy.pdf