CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar

[Lynsioux]

Makes you wonder if W&S's management will pull Erin off the case and walk away from it. You would think at some point W&S may worry about thir reputation since this thing is looking like it will go south for them.

That might be the case if W&S had the ethics of an Alec Peters, but they are bigger than that.

Ranahan is not a peon. Despite her seeming youth, she is a partner. Partners are part owners of the firm. The other attorney on the case is an associate, who is a peon, and can lose his job easily.

 

[mkstewartesq]

Question for the legal folk here: is this the kind of document that the judge might have his staff write up and then sign? Or is it likely that he wrote this in its entirety?

Depends on the judge, but, most likely, he outlined his thoughts, had his law clerks do the research and craft an initial draft, and then he polished it.

M

 

[BillJ]

So has Lord Garth given a public statement on his motion to dismiss being completely dismissed?

 

[Ion]

Ranahan is not a peon. Despite her seeming youth, she is a partner. Partners are part owners of the firm. The other attorney on the case is an associate, who is a peon, and can lose his job easily.

I'll have to go read over her bio again at some point. I was under the impression that she was junior and relatively short on experience. Might have gotten her mixed up with someone else.

 

[Ion]

Depends on the judge, but, most likely, he outlined his thoughts, had his law clerks do the research and craft an initial draft, and then he polished it.

M

Hmmm. I find myself hoping that he did the writing himself, at least for that last bit. :-)

 

[Lynsioux]

Variety
Oct 28, 2014
Winston & Strawn partner Erin Ranahan was named one of Hollywood’s New Leaders in Law by Variety.

The article highlights Ms. Ranahan’s legal career in the media and entertainment industry, which began with litigating intellectual property matters on behalf of EMI, Smokey Robinson, and Marvel Comics. She now works on cutting edge copyright law cases, scoring victories that include a summary judgment for defendant Veoh against UMG in a landmark Digital Millennium Copyright Act decision. She has also litigated for Wolfgang’s Vault/Bill Graham Archives in disputes against the surviving members of Led Zeppelin, the Doors, and the Grateful Dead.

“There are always new and exciting things happening in this area,” she said.

 

[Amaris]

Hmmm. I find myself hoping that he did the writing himself, at least for that last bit. :-)

I have to be honest, I'd laugh my ass off if it turned out he was a STC or ST:R fan, knowing what Peters is doing to the fan film community right now.

 

[Sgt_G]

Sgt_G said: I know Ken. He's been in the gaming industry for quite a while now. I know he knows about licensing and such because he ported his game to a couple other universes. That announcement was from a year ago. I would be very surprise if he didn't quietly walk away from this project when the *bleep* hit the fan.

If this is true and he did indeed bolt after the initial filing, then we have more proof Lord Alec will throw anyone and everyone under the bus.......

Okay, the announcement from last year I mentioned was on Ken's Ad Astra page. I didn't see anything else about it on his page. I now see the message you spoke of was just the other day on the Axanar page. I'm attempting to contact Ken to see what's what.

 

[Lynsioux]

I have to be honest, I'd laugh my ass off if it turned out he was a STC or ST:R fan, knowing what Peters is doing to the fan film community right now.

If the judge was a financial backer of any of them, one would expect him to recuse himself.

Alec probably has private eyes looking into that as we speak. Oops, did I give him an idea?

 

[muCephi]

Now would be a good time for unhappy donors to start organizing. Just reading the tea leaves...

 

[Lynsioux]

http://www.law360.com/articles/781206/rising-star-winston-strawn-s-erin-ranahan

The 38-year-old, who has been with Winston & Strawn since 2007, told Law360 she enjoys the advantage her age gives her when she takes on a case.

“People don’t expect as much out of you and then you can surprise them with that,” Ranahan said with a chuckle. They’re like ‘Oh, they’re putting a junior partner on this case,’ and then when you can show them how good you are, even up against some much older, more established partners who have been practicing 20 years or longer, and you can still go head to head with them and get successes and gain a respect I mean that’s always fun.”

 

[Sgt_G]

From Ad Astra Games page, dated LAST YEAR on 5 May 2015:

Ad Astra Games and Axanar Productions will bring the space battles of the Four Years War to tabletop gaming with Squadron Strike: Axanar! Using the critically acclaimed Squadron Strike game engine, Squadron Strike: Axanar will show the arms race between the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets in unprecedented detail. The product will be available in both PDF and print formats, and will include the canonical class histories for all the ships in the film. ...... Playtesting will require signing a Non-Disclosure Agreement.

So, I figured that the NDA was an Ad Astra document that Ken wrote up. I was wrong. Here's what it says:

Confidential Non-Disclosure Agreement (“Agreement”)

Axanar Productions, Inc. has a strict confidentiality policy in regard to its affairs. Any material provided with respect to the service you are being engaged to perform is considered personal, private, and proprietary. Such materials shall include, without limitation, information regarding Axanar Productions, Inc., the business of Axanar Productions, Inc., any project produced by Axanar Productions, Inc., including, without limitation, any information concerning or relating to the project’s concept, format and/or ideas, content thereof, and any other confidential and/or proprietary information relating to any project and/or Axanar Productions, Inc. and its respective assignees or licensees.

Therefore, it is essential that you agree to hold all such information and material as confidential and refrain from disclosing the same, in total or any part thereof, at any time to any individuals you come into contact with (including spouses, significant others, friends, relatives and acquaintances); newspapers, periodicals, magazines, publications, television stations, radio stations, publishers, and any other enterprise involved in the print or electronic media, including individuals working directly or indirectly for or on behalf of any of said entities; and/or via any social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter.

A breach of this Agreement shall render you liable to Axanar Productions, Inc. for any and all damages and injuries incurred by Axanar Productions, Inc. as a result thereof, and you acknowledge and agree that any disclosure by you to any individual or entity of any information and/or material will cause irreparable harm to Axanar Productions, Inc. and shall entitle Axanar Productions, Inc. to obtain an ex parte restraining order, preliminary injunction and permanent injunction preventing such a disclosure or any further disclosure, of any information or material.

For purposes of clarity, in the event Axanar Productions, Inc. approves your disclosure of confidential information and/or you disclose information that was already publically known (provided such public knowledge is not due to your disclosure), then such disclosure shall not be deemed a breach of this Agreement.

The undersigned hereby agrees to comply with the foregoing:

 

[Campe]

There is a part of me that wonders if Erin's playing around with the MTD and plans to come out swinging. Then I remember it's a pro bono case and she likely has many, MANY more important cases to deal with

 

[RedForman]

http://www.law360.com/articles/781206/rising-star-winston-strawn-s-erin-ranahan

The 38-year-old, who has been with Winston & Strawn since 2007, told Law360 she enjoys the advantage her age gives her when she takes on a case.

“People don’t expect as much out of you and then you can surprise them with that,” Ranahan said with a chuckle. They’re like ‘Oh, they’re putting a junior partner on this case,’ and then when you can show them how good you are, even up against some much older, more established partners who have been practicing 20 years or longer, and you can still go head to head with them and get successes and gain a respect I mean that’s always fun.”

Everything she's done/said thus far has painted her as a rookie in my mind.....especially her lack of discretion. I would think a full partner would act smarter/with more foresight......

 

[Noname Given]

Makes you wonder if W&S's management will pull Erin off the case and walk away from it. You would think at some point W&S may worry about thir reputation since this thing is looking like it will go south for them.

It would be WORSE for the firm's reputation if they just walked away on their own (IE Axanar/Alec Peters didn't 'fire' them.) In any Civil legal case that goes to trial and doesn't reach a settlement, there's going to be a 'winner' and a 'loser'. If your firm takes a case; unless something REALLY BAD that the Firm didn't know about when agreeing to represent the client; or some other situation (the Firm finds it has a true 'conflict of interest' it didn't realize was there when it took the case); it looks WAY WORSE if they resign because they realize they're going to loose.

As far as Erin Ranahan herself - probably the BIGGEST faux pas she's committed was yesterday's tweet about the case on the Firm's twitter feed that was subsequently removed due to replies by admitted Star Trek fans who agreed with C/P's stance regarding the case rather than with W&S' position. <--- That action probably got her in a meeting with the firm's Board or Senior partners.

 

[Squiggy]

I have to be honest, I'd laugh my ass off if it turned out he was a STC or ST:R fan, knowing what Peters is doing to the fan film community right now.

"I wasn't ever a fan until nuTrek came along. I remember seeing you on the BBS a couple of years ago too."

 

[muCephi]

... you can still go head to head with them and get successes and gain a respect I mean that’s always fun.”

open hailing frequencies with W&S: OK, fine Corbomite Maneuver, but It's a Wrap. The Guardian of Forever has Deep Spaced The Trouble with Trivials defense. Shockwave approaches. Year of Hell, compressed. Encounter at Farfetched. Reiteration is futile. Reach?

 

[Warped9]

This just in. Axanar lost on every item in their Motion to Dismiss.

""When viewed in a vacuum, each of these elements may not individually be protectable by copyright. Plaintiffs, however, do not seek to enforce their copyright in each of these elements individually. Rather, Plaintiffs’ copyright infringement claims are based on the Star Trek Copyrighted Works as a whole. … The Court finds it unnecessary to analyze whether the allegedly non-protectable elements of the Star Trek Copyrighted Works are eligible for copyright protection because Plaintiff describes these elements in the Complaint solely in an effort to demonstrate how the Axanar Works are substantially similar to the Star Trek Copyrighted Works. (p. 5)"

Paramount v Axanar 2-15-cv-09938 CD CA 2016-05-10 43 Court Order denying motion to dismiss.pdf

Sweet!

 

[JD]

I replied on the Axanar Blog you linked to with:



Yes, I know said comment will never survive the Axanar site moderation (IE it'll be waiting in moderation forever); but I'm sure a certain person involved with Axanar will see it.

[Update: Yep - someone with Axanar saw it - it's no longer awaiting Moderation, it's been deleted - BIG surprise there...]



Sure they could- but that would just make C/P's case for 'financial damages' just that much easier; and ensure a HUGE financial penalty (probably in both statutory and punitive damages). Also, GOOD LUCK finding ANY legitimate actor (former Star Trek actor or otherwise) with a name in Hollywood willing to now be a part of a project being openly and very publically sued for Copyright infringement.

Have any of the actors involved (other than Tony Todd) said whether or not they plan on sticking with Axanar? I would like to think all or most of them would be smart enough to run very, very far away.

 

[muCephi]

The Federal Judiciary thanks you for the opportunity to serve.