CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar
- Thread starter Richard Baker
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Can't remember if that matters or not. If you can edit, it says, "Edit" on the bottom left of your post right below where a signature would go. Don't be careless clicking on it, it's right next to "Report."Now if I can just figure out how to edit posts... Of course, that might be limited because I'm a n00b.
I hadn't seen that before. Is there a larger version somewhere?For the sake of reference:
Hence my assumption that it's a priv thing. I don't have it. Oh well, wandering back on topic.
Okeyfine.
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The judge is assigned randomly when the case is filed. No court date had been scheduled. We likely won't see one until Axanar Productions files an answer or motion to dismiss, which may take another week.
What happens if Axanar doesn't file? Summary judgement?
My bad - mixed up my terminology.
Right. If there's no reply, CBS and Paramount would likely move for a default judgment. But that would still take time to process with the judge. And assuming default is granted on liability--i.e., on whether there was infringement--the studios would probably still need to submit evidence on damages.
Somehow, I doubt Peters will forego a chance to proclaim his innocence in court. All he has to do is file an answer broadly denying the allegations in the complaint. But he could go for the motion to dismiss. I don't see that working, but it would at least offer a vehicle for him to present any fair use defense.
I too rank STII:TWoK as the top Star Trek film along with (for me) ST:ID - Yep. Does ST:ID have a lot of flaws/plotholes? Yep - but so has EVERY Star Trek film made. I find it funny that people claim ST:ID is somehow direct ripoff of STII:TWoK - and I'm sorry, but (IMO) those that do, didn't pay much attention or focus on the Spock "KHAAAN!" line; and the paralleling of aspects of the engine room scene where Kirk is dying, etc. (and yes, that WAS intentional and I do think it fit the story, VMMV.)
Again, interesting that STII:TWoK is a pinnacle Trek for many DESPITE its major plot holes of:
First Officer Chekov on the Reliant is SO INCOMPETENT, on the approach to the Ceti Alpha system, he obviously failed to notice:
1) There was a planet missing (Per Kahn: "Ceti Alpha VI exploded 6 months after we were left here...")
2) Failed to noticed a new asteroid belt/debris field (IE the remains of Ceti Alpha VI)
3) Failed to noticed planets in the system had shifted their orbits (Per Khan: "...the explosion shifted the orbit of Ceti Alpha V and everything was laid waste.."
^^^
And WHY did all the above HAVE to occur? because if it didn't (and either Chekov - or whatever happened to the Reliant sensor array - was working per compotent Star trek standards) - we wouldn't have the rest of the events in STII:TWoK that everyone enjoyed.
Oh, and let's not forget about the classic reunion between Khan and Chekov - TWO characters that NEVER met in the episode "Space Seed" because during Star trek's first season Mr. Chekov wasn't a member of the Enterprise crew. (And yes, I too laugh along with everyone and accept the rationalization that Chekov was on the crew, just on the night shift; and he an Khan ran into each other on the (also non-existent during the original series run) restrooms on the ship.)
^^^
Yep, STII:TWoK is a PERFECT example of the best elements of Star trek over the past near 50 years; it's loved but has TONS of inconsistencies needing to be rationalized.
But I'm not done with comparisons as there's one thing I see brought up a lot with ST:ID; and it's that Captain Kirk is incompetent (which was in fact a major plot point - because after the incident with the Volcano - and how Kirk logged it - because Spock filed a separate report - Adm. Pike realized that Kirk in fact wasn't ready and took the 1701 away from him, and demoted him to Commander/First Officer aboard Pike's command.); but the point I want to make is that in the much beloved STII:TWoK - Adm Kirk is ALSO shown as incompetent - during the encounter with the USS Reliant commanded by Khan. Despite all the incongruities in the approach of the Reliant, Kirk never raises shields (although again, I find int interesting that during the TOS series runs, Deflector shields could come up automatically (See "Errand of Mercy") and per Sulu come of FAST (IE Sulu's line: "Captain, Deflector Shields just snapped on; unidentified body approaching..."); yet here EVEN AFTER Mr. Savik quotes regulations - Kirk DOESN'T raise shields - and again, even though it's 15 years since the original TOS timeframe the shields can no longer 'snap on' (IE You'd think when Spock says, "There shields are going up." and Kirk immediately says "Raise shields!" - were it TOS; said shields would have 'snapped on' in a second - but they didn't? Why? Because without that - the refit 1701 would have most likely outclassed the Reliant in a 'fair' (IE both ships fully ready) fight; and you would have the second half of the story as it played out in the film.
Yet again, the general 'real fan' interpetation is STII:TYWoK is the 'best' Trek film (despite its plot holes and contrived plot complications) while ST:ID is the 'worst' Trek film (because of its plot holes and similar contrived plot complications).
Then we get to the re-imagined Khan. Some fans are outraged because they got a british actor; and not someone of middle eastern/Indian lineage. I have to wonder why there wasn't fan OUTRAGE in the 1960ies that Khan was played by an actor (Ricardo Montalban) of MEXICAN (ie also not of middle eastern/Indian lineage); and further -1966 Khan's accent was NOT middle eastern/Indian in any way - and was definitely latin/mexican.
My point: It's interesting how when Star trek fans want to denigrate a film, they'll suddenly bring up every plot hole and canon violation as 'proof' - yet, on a film with pretty much the same level of plotholes/canon violations; if they lock on to one aspect they like - it's suddenly 'Star Trek done right'™; and all the plot holes/violations are ignored or explained away and glossed over.
Again, I restate, I LOVE STII:TWoK in spite of the above; and still do rank it right up there at #1; but I also rank ST:ID up there at the same level and which is #1/#2 depends on how I'm feeling at the time when you ask me; because for me it also captures a lot of what I find 'Star trek' in execution and characterization - given the backgrounds of these TOS characters in this new/parallel universe. I also fully realize others don't see it at all that way, but objectively BOTH films have plot holes you can fly a Starship through; so to say one is worse than the other based on just that is (IMO) disingenuous at best.
Star Trek VI is the best movie, and anyone who says otherwise is not a true fan.
I wanted to say pretty much the same thing. It's also strange that Gerrold goes on about Gene's "vision" and how these fan films supposedly have a better grasp of what that vision is than Paramount/CBS. I'm just not sure that this so-called vision is the thing you want to bring up when defending Axanar. I certainly don't think war and spaceship battles, etc. are out of place in the Star Trek universe, but I don't think a war movie is the first thing most fans would think of when asked about Roddenberry's vision of the future.
Actually, from a legal standpoint this IS a terrible argument. One way you can demonstrate fair use is by showing how your work is a criticism or commentary on the original. For example, the 11th Circuit in Atlanta held a fictional book based on "Gone With the Wind" was fair use because the author of the latter used her work as "a specific criticism of and rejoinder to the depiction of slavery and the relationships between blacks and whites in" the original novel. In contrast, Axanar has not presented itself as a commentary or criticism of Star Trek, but rather a more "faithful" depiction of the source material.
I've been thinking, and maybe we're all being a bunch of fact-obsessed killjoys, what with our notions of "reality" and "copyright law".
But not the Axanar fans (or Axanerds, as they call themselves). They get it. And they come from a long line of it-getters.They're not a bunch of joyless factinistas from the dork patrol. What right does the US legal system have to define what is or isn't a copyright violation? The Axanerds know that it's their right as Americans to individually decide what the laws mean. And that goes double for the Axanerds from other countries! You see, this isn't about the law you know with your head. It's about the law you feel with your gut. After he killed Hitler in the Civil War, did Gene Roddenberry write the Constitution with his head? No way! It would've been too hard to hold the pen in his mouth for that long, and his assistant's mouth was too busy doing other things. No, Gene Roddenberry wrote the Constitution with his gut. That's why it's got all that weird squiggly writing and the strange lowercase Fs where the letter S should be.
Most people don't know this because they're not real Star Trek fans. But the Axanerds are. And why are they real Star Trek fans? Because they donated to Axanar. And the more money they donated, the realer of a Star Trek fan they are. That's why they're so good at interpreting the law with their gut. And what does their gut tell them?
It tells them that copyright law is a vast unsettled expanse, one that isn't decided by "lawyers" with their useless "facts" and "legal precedents". It's decided by volume, by which I mean loudness. And there is nothing louder than Axanar's self-reinforcing Internet echo chamber with its tens of dedicated members. That's why Axanar will win. Because its fans believe. And because they stick to Gene Roddenberry's One True Star Trek Vision, which he had when he got really high on acid that one time in the 70s after the studio wouldn't let him put more than two belly buttons on Mariette Hartley.
Their gut also tells them that Alec Peters could use one of the many law firms that's lining up to represent Axanar for free. Or he could raise money for the Axanar legal defense on Kickstarter and get like a billion dollars in five minutes. But he doesn't need to do that, because he's a lawyer. All he needs to do is walk into the courtroom and say "FAIR USE!", then smile in satisfaction as everyone looks at him weird, because he walked into the wrong courtroom and interrupted the testimony of Mrs. Stella Weemble tearfully recounting what happened after she found her husband Elroy in bed with a RealDoll in a Donald Trump mask.
But after he goes into the correct courtroom and shouts "FAIR USE!" the judge will immediately rule in Axanar's favor and sentence the CBS/Paramount lawyers to death. And then Axanar will be made, and the whole world will boycott Star Trek Beyond and it'll make negative zillion dollars at the box office while all creation revels in the glory, nay the dream, that is Axanar.
And then Alec will be crowned Lord Garth and rule the world from Ares Studios. Boomer the Cat will be his Vice President.
Yep, all of that is totally, for real, going to happen. I know because I read it on Facebook.
But not the Axanar fans (or Axanerds, as they call themselves). They get it. And they come from a long line of it-getters.They're not a bunch of joyless factinistas from the dork patrol. What right does the US legal system have to define what is or isn't a copyright violation? The Axanerds know that it's their right as Americans to individually decide what the laws mean. And that goes double for the Axanerds from other countries! You see, this isn't about the law you know with your head. It's about the law you feel with your gut. After he killed Hitler in the Civil War, did Gene Roddenberry write the Constitution with his head? No way! It would've been too hard to hold the pen in his mouth for that long, and his assistant's mouth was too busy doing other things. No, Gene Roddenberry wrote the Constitution with his gut. That's why it's got all that weird squiggly writing and the strange lowercase Fs where the letter S should be.
Most people don't know this because they're not real Star Trek fans. But the Axanerds are. And why are they real Star Trek fans? Because they donated to Axanar. And the more money they donated, the realer of a Star Trek fan they are. That's why they're so good at interpreting the law with their gut. And what does their gut tell them?
It tells them that copyright law is a vast unsettled expanse, one that isn't decided by "lawyers" with their useless "facts" and "legal precedents". It's decided by volume, by which I mean loudness. And there is nothing louder than Axanar's self-reinforcing Internet echo chamber with its tens of dedicated members. That's why Axanar will win. Because its fans believe. And because they stick to Gene Roddenberry's One True Star Trek Vision, which he had when he got really high on acid that one time in the 70s after the studio wouldn't let him put more than two belly buttons on Mariette Hartley.
Their gut also tells them that Alec Peters could use one of the many law firms that's lining up to represent Axanar for free. Or he could raise money for the Axanar legal defense on Kickstarter and get like a billion dollars in five minutes. But he doesn't need to do that, because he's a lawyer. All he needs to do is walk into the courtroom and say "FAIR USE!", then smile in satisfaction as everyone looks at him weird, because he walked into the wrong courtroom and interrupted the testimony of Mrs. Stella Weemble tearfully recounting what happened after she found her husband Elroy in bed with a RealDoll in a Donald Trump mask.
But after he goes into the correct courtroom and shouts "FAIR USE!" the judge will immediately rule in Axanar's favor and sentence the CBS/Paramount lawyers to death. And then Axanar will be made, and the whole world will boycott Star Trek Beyond and it'll make negative zillion dollars at the box office while all creation revels in the glory, nay the dream, that is Axanar.
And then Alec will be crowned Lord Garth and rule the world from Ares Studios. Boomer the Cat will be his Vice President.
Yep, all of that is totally, for real, going to happen. I know because I read it on Facebook.
To say nothing of the fact that the "what you're doing is shit - we're doing Trek the *right* way" argument is probably not a great motivator to let us use your IP however we'd like.
We can't let any mention of Gene and the Constitution pass without acknowledging this:
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