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CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar

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If it's not CBS or Paramount who can officially sanction a Star Trek project?

Neil

Shat?

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If people want more of a legal look into things, I cover it all (but I warn you, it's long because this stuff is kinda complicated) - http://www.gandtshow.com/author/janet/ (most recent 5 on the list). Thank you for taking a peek.

Hi there. If you are the lawyer who they interviewed on the episode a while back, I actually posted a link to that episode in this very thread just after it came out. I enjoyed hearing those insights.
 
I'm trying to build the perfect summary post that I can copy/paste whenever this subject comes up on the various sites I read. My goal is to describe the situation clearly and simply, so someone who has no idea what is going on will understand the meat of the situation. Here is what I have thus far, and please share any feedback:

I think thegandtshow.com and axamonitor.com have the most comprehensive analyses and summaries which you could use for guidance. There also have been a number of very informed legal analyses posted here in the last few weeks, I'm sure a few references can be provided by someone on the thread.

The summary you provide is clearly trying to pare things down to the barest of bare bones, eg omitting the Axanar forays into unlicensed product creation and sales (coffee, models, game sets, perhaps more). You probably could add that as a fourth point without defeating your brevity goal.

I think it would also be good, especially given your technique of comparing the situation with the Red Cross, to make it clear that while Axanar claims to be "not for profit" and "not making a profit", they are in fact registered as a for profit corporation in California, subchapter S, I believe, and making what CBS would call a profit.

Axanar seems to intend their statements that they are "not making a profit" to mean

after we spend all the money we make off Trek IP --
(on our future investment in our profit-making facility (not just a sound stage, but offices and perhaps more), on our salaries and benefits, and our production costs if and when we actually make a film (which for years and over repeated fundraisers we have not except for teasers)) --
we will have no money left in the bank, and therefore we have met the CBS requirement to "not make a profit". Axanar has been challenged in public repeatedly to defend their "expenses" as not being a profit and has always claimed that its all part of a design to "not make a profit" through this scheme of not having any cash left.

Axanar apparently seeks to bend the concept of "profit" as that which remains after excluding "expenses", to side step that their expenses include acquisition of non-cash assets and other benefits such as salaries which CBS considers profit off the IP. Axanar even seems to be suggesting to the uninformed that Axanar Productions is somehow in the same legal framework as an actual nonprofit corporation by the endless unqualified use of the phrases "not for profit" and "nonprofit", without ever "actually saying" they are a legal not-for-profit. Axanar has created enormous confusion among fans on this point, and the framing of the word "profit" is clearly not what CBS/Paramount intended.

Finally, I do think that it would be good to somehow mention that the case does not depend on any of the money issues. Copyright violation pertains simply because the work is derivative or outright copies. The financial issues may be motivation for the plaintiffs, and may be relevant in assessing damages, and certainly will give leave to demand the books during discovery (which who knows, might surface other issues like potentially inappropriate commingling of PropWorx and Axanar Productions business operations/costs), but ultimately the case need only prove to a civil court's 51% standard of likeliness that copyright itself was violated.

This is my understanding but I leave it to the attorneys to give you definitive info.
 
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Holy shit. I was just looking through the Wondercon schedule.
Guess who is talking about the legacy and future of Battlestar Galactica on the first day?

Richard Hatch (Captain Apollo, Tom Zarek, Kharn, Axanar) hosts a panel and fan discussion on the legacy and creative direction any forthcomingBattlestar Galacticamovie or series should take. Panelists include producer Alec Peters (Propworx,Axanar), Dr. Kevin Grazier (science consultant, Battlestar, Eureka, and Falling Skies), and Rob Burnett (Free Enterprise). The panel also includes surprise guests,Battlestar Galactica videos, comic reels, and a Q&A.

I guess we know which franchise they will steal from next...
 
Holy shit. I was just looking through the Wondercon schedule.
Guess who is talking about the legacy and future of Battlestar Galactica on the first day?
I guess we know which franchise they will steal from next...

someone mentioned this a few pages ago (* I know :rolleyes::lol: *)... I look forward to some representatives of the owners of BSG IP to be in the audience... of course, if the panel were smart, they would have started negotiating p e r m i s s i o n first, and have such a rep on the panel with them, but well, don't see it yet, and given their success, why would they want to go to the trouble?
 
someone mentioned this a few pages ago (* I know :rolleyes::lol: *)... I look forward to some representatives of the owners of BSG IP to be in the audience... of course, if the panel were smart, they would have started negotiating p e r m i s s i o n first, and have such a rep on the panel with them, but well, don't see it yet, and given their success, why would they want to go to the trouble?

Sigh. Alright. Well. It was a surprise to me. :lol:
 
I've never been to a Trek con, but might be tempted if AP ever decides to show his face in good old Blighty.
Hopefully he'll get our humour :)
If you don't donate he probably won't let you in to meet him, he's like that you know. During a fund raiser what ever you can give is wonderful until you ask the hard questions then its you only gave $10 banned!
 
If you don't donate he probably won't let you in to meet him, he's like that you know. During a fund raiser what ever you can give is wonderful until you ask the hard questions then its you only gave $10 banned!

If it is in a public house, he could not legally stop me from entering. I am looking into taking my PAL soon, and this is one of the questions we shall be asked. Besides, if he causes trouble, he would be deported!

I doubt Fluffy Terry will go with him, so he probably won't have security.

That's only because there are no planes big enough to fit him.
 
A union member would have to be paid something for their work. I'm wondering if he absolutely needed to become a SAG member to appear. And, I don't think he did. They basically flushed 4K of their budget down the toilet.

EDITED TO ADD: it's been clarified that Peters appeared multiple times as Garth, under SAG contracts, I assume, so he would have to join the union.
In the budget he listed SAG dues paid. So he used donor money to pay his union dues as a donor I didn't not donate to enable Alec Peters to join a union I donated to get a movie made.
 
Permission for what? To talk about a TV show in a public place?

No, certainly not, anyone can do that. And you are right, the title is 'creative direction and legacy and future directions for any BSG film or tv show'. And I see in fact Mr. Peters has sat on similar panels at other cons. There is nothing suggesting they would try to pitch the Axanar fan film business model for BSG IP as part of the 'future' of BSG productions, except the presence of Mr. Peters and Mr. Hatch and Mr. Burnett on the panel. So let's say, nonzero chance.

My thought was, if they *are* imagining opening this door, it would be smart for them to seek permission to even begin proposing such ideas, and achieve a relationship with the BSG IP holders which would interest those people to sit on the panel in agreement, rather than in opposition in the audience.
 
And the big honkin' blog post -
Axanar: Plaintiffs File An Amended Complaint
I thank you for reading and for your kind support.

I have to run off and do homework now. Questions? It's probably easier (and faster) to either ask them in comments to that post or to send me a PM here or on Facebook. I'm happy to research but of course family, school, and work are priorities and so there may be a delay. But this matter is of interest to me and I don't mind looking as I'm learning/refreshing my recollection these days, too. You are not bothering me, and I am open to your inquiries. If I miss something or I seem I have, give me a nudge. I don't want it lost in the shuffle and I do want to answer if I can (and if I can't, I will tell you so).
You rock girl!
 
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