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CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar

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Alec Peters announces his latest business venture!
ZEy8Vpo.gif
I love it! A picture of one wanker to illustrate another ( yeah, I really do like Jeremy Clarkson, but he's a jerk nonetheless) :whistle:
 
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We (mostly) have been expressing our feelings and opinions on this Thread, now, for about 600 pages, and I have tried to be a good reader of the Posts, but has anyone explored the possibility of or shared knowledge as to whether, in the interest of legal fees and expenses, time and effort of executives and minions, and, oh yeah, the fans, CBS/Paramount could actually end up getting Axanar (the "Movie") as part of a settlement or award, and go ahead and make the thing?
 
We (mostly) have been expressing our feelings and opinions on this Thread, now, for about 600 pages, and I have tried to be a good reader of the Posts, but has anyone explored the possibility of or shared knowledge as to whether, in the interest of legal fees and expenses, time and effort of executives and minions, and, oh yeah, the fans, CBS/Paramount could actually end up getting Axanar (the "Movie") as part of a settlement or award, and go ahead and make the thing?

It's an interesting thought. Based on the move away from unsolicited scripts to exclusive in-house writing teams for Trek TV (and all TV), and more importantly the fact that I can't imagine a script being awarded as damages in a legal proceeding (great comedic film premise, though), it doesn't seem possible that this could end with C/P getting/making the movie. Candidly, I also doubt the material is strong enough for them to be interested in producing it.
 
We (mostly) have been expressing our feelings and opinions on this Thread, now, for about 600 pages, and I have tried to be a good reader of the Posts, but has anyone explored the possibility of or shared knowledge as to whether, in the interest of legal fees and expenses, time and effort of executives and minions, and, oh yeah, the fans, CBS/Paramount could actually end up getting Axanar (the "Movie") as part of a settlement or award, and go ahead and make the thing?
That scenario has been brought up a few times previously on the thread. It would be a very bad idea as it would encourage and enable despotic loons like Peters to continuously violate CBS/P's intellectual property for personal gain. Why reward someone for violating IP they don't own?
 
We (mostly) have been expressing our feelings and opinions on this Thread, now, for about 600 pages, and I have tried to be a good reader of the Posts, but has anyone explored the possibility of or shared knowledge as to whether, in the interest of legal fees and expenses, time and effort of executives and minions, and, oh yeah, the fans, CBS/Paramount could actually end up getting Axanar (the "Movie") as part of a settlement or award, and go ahead and make the thing?

Why would CBS/Paramount want to make a fan film? What would they get out of it? Big companies don't do things out of the kindness of their hearts; they do things to make money for their shareholders.

As I see it, making "Axanar" would cost CBS/Paramount more than they would gain. First, they would be putting their stamp of approval on what appears to be a sub-par script. There's no real need to do that when they've got the highly successful reboots still going strong and a new TV show in the works. Second, they would be, in effect, rewarding Axanar Productions for crossing a line. There's no way they want to encourage that behavior because other fan film producers might try the same approach. Third, they would have to put a lot more money into producing "Axanar" than Peters because they can't use volunteer labor.

What would they get? Well, they'd have a shot at making about ten thousand fans, some of whom have been highly critical of CBS/Paramount, happy. Of course, those fans could just as easily end up saying, "You ruined Axanar. It would have been better if you had just given Alec Peters the money to produce it."

That doesn't strike me as a good ROI.
 
Sorry, I did not say make it as a "fan film", but actually make the thing, only if they got the "ownership" of it, or whatever...but I see that it was discussed before...

I do hear you, Eathrise, in what you said about "...crossing the line...", but I meant making it as an actual movie to make money. Because (theoretically) they "won" it as part of a legal proceeding...

...probably a stupid thought, but I just wondered?!
 
We (mostly) have been expressing our feelings and opinions on this Thread, now, for about 600 pages, and I have tried to be a good reader of the Posts, but has anyone explored the possibility of or shared knowledge as to whether, in the interest of legal fees and expenses, time and effort of executives and minions, and, oh yeah, the fans, CBS/Paramount could actually end up getting Axanar (the "Movie") as part of a settlement or award, and go ahead and make the thing?
They could conceivably get the rights to anything original, I imagine. Those are assets, although their value is likely to be wholly or nearly wholly derivative of CBS/Paramount's IP.

I doubt they'd make it, though, for the reasons that have been stated above.
 
They could conceivably get the rights to anything original, I imagine. Those are assets, although their value is likely to be wholly or nearly wholly derivative of CBS/Paramount's IP.

I doubt they'd make it, though, for the reasons that have been stated above.


Thank you, Madame Chief Justice! I am sure you and the other Posters are correct...I gotta say, though I thoroughly disagree with the AxaTactics, I did like what I saw of the clips...

Thank you for hearing my case. :bolian:
 
They could conceivably get the rights to anything original, I imagine. Those are assets, although their value is likely to be wholly or nearly wholly derivative of CBS/Paramount's IP.

I doubt they'd make it, though, for the reasons that have been stated above.

The Supreme Court has spoken
 
Sorry, I did not say make it as a "fan film", but actually make the thing, only if they got the "ownership" of it, or whatever...but I see that it was discussed before...

I do hear you, Eathrise, in what you said about "...crossing the line...", but I meant making it as an actual movie to make money. Because (theoretically) they "won" it as part of a legal proceeding...

...probably a stupid thought, but I just wondered?!

I think the problem there would be that an "Axanar" film would not likely make money. Science fiction films are expensive, particularly when you have to play by union rules. Thus you need a large audience in order to make them profitable. Therefore, the number one question you'd have to ask yourself is, "Who cares about Garth of Izar?" The answer is about ten thousand people. (By comparison, Box Office Mojo estimates that STID sold over 27 million tickets domestically.)

Could marketing maybe increase that number? Perhaps, but at that point you're working against the Star Trek brand instead of with it. General audiences don't want to see a random corner of the Star Trek universe based solely around the backstory of a one-off character from a 1969 TV show--that's for the nerds. General audiences want to see Kirk, et al. kicking butt in a sci-fi action adventure film.
 
Thank you!

That doesn't paint Mr. Gerrold in a very flattering light, does it?
Nope - and I have a personal anecdote myself regarding a personal interaction I had with Mr. David Gerrold when I was working at the Information both at the 1993 Worldcon science fiction convention Confrancisco.

The Info Booth had a PA system that covered the entire convention arena - and was used to call parents back to get lost kids who were dropped off at the Info Booth; announce found items like purses, wallets; calls for convention area security (via special codes of course). We were told it was ONLY to be used for 'emergencies' like that - no 'personal broadcasts' or anything of that nature.

So, this person walks up to the booth and tells me he needs to make use of the PA. I tell him that first I need to know why as we're only to use it for certain types of situations. he then goes on to say that he had a lunch date with this pretty girl that he arranged earlier; but she didn't show up at the arranged meeting place at the arranged time, so he'd like to call her to the booth. I respond, "Sorry sir, I can't allow you to use it for that situation as the PA system is only for emergencies; and someone not showing up for a lunch date doesn't qualify."

He then says, "Do you realize I'm a professional guest of the Convention? I'm David Gerrold [and.he directed me to look at his Badge, and it was as he indicated]; and I wrote one of the most beloved episodes of Star Trek. Do you realize who I am now?"

I did know his name, and what he had done without him saying any more, and said, "Yes. I am a huge Trek fan and I've enjoyed "The Trouble With Tribbles" episode very much over the years . All that said, I still can't allow you to use the PA system, as the situation you've described is not an emergency. If she's a friend that came to the Con with you; I'm sure you'll find each other later.

He replied, "Well, I just meet her this morning, asked her out to lunch, and she said okay and agreed to meet me; but didn't show; and I really want to see her again."

I said, "Sorry, I can't let you use the PA; and yes, I do realize who you are, but I can't break Convention policy for something like this."

He said, "Well, I demand to speak the person in charge of this booth!"

I said, "No problem, I'll get her." (Oh, and as an aside the person running the Booth had in fact been roommates with Harlan Ellison in years past, and had worked on an Outer Limits [circa 1963] script too - and she never put up with crap from anyone, including J. Michael Straczynski, but that's a whole other story from a different Worldcon.)

So, I called her over, and after Mr. Gerrold had re-explained the situation, she said, "My volunteer here is correct. Convention policy only allows us to use the PA for emergencies; and you stalking a Con goer you just met this morning does not qualify. Good day sir."

He then got beet red and stomped off. 100% true story. I've never held a very high opinion of Mr. David Gerrold since then.
 
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Maybe Paramount was planning to use their alternate universe version of Garth in the fourth film! LOL .. then again maybe not.
 
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