Do you think it's too soon to begin work on Axanar the 48 Month War?
CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar
- Thread starter Richard Baker
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That script was probably finished within 10 minutes of last night's announcement.
I have bloggerized (mainly because I can only be on the show for a half an hour due to previous commitments) -
http://www.gandtshow.com/axanar-justin-lin-jj-abrams-bombshell/
Take deep breaths. Have some pie.
http://www.gandtshow.com/axanar-justin-lin-jj-abrams-bombshell/
Take deep breaths. Have some pie.
AP is doing the 4 year war, I'm talking about the 48 month war, see the difference? It will be so much cooler than Alex's new canon, trust me I read a book
If saving face and sticking a knife into online haters is what Alec wants more than anything else, this is his one and only golden opportunity. I don't think he's going to blow it.
No - I personally hate to see a thief and con-man PROFIT from his illegal actions. Regardless of if or what any settlement actually is; Alec Peters has ZERO integrity and is just a common grifter at heart. <--- That will never change.
Thank you Jespah. Great article!
It's CBS and Paramount's IP to do with as they wish. That's always been my point. All fan films violate copyright. If the copyright holder lets you, great. If they say stop, stop. You don't have a legal leg to stand on.
I do think Alec was unethical in what it did and how he behaved. But that's Hollywood. That's life, too. If he profits from it -- and he may, by the time all of this is done -- then he profits from it. But I'll continue on acting as I think is best. Which I think is far removed from anything Alec does.
Hindsight is 20/20. What you're saying above is NOT what this thread has been claiming for hundreds of pages. The party line here has been that hardcore fans are inconsequential and that they can and will crush fan-films with no remorse and no impact on their bottom-line. And that may still be true of how the beancounters think, but what you're misreading here is the idea that the settlement decision is coming out of the beancounters. It's not. It's being driven by Justin Lin and JJ exercising their leverage.
If CBS/P felt the way JJ and Justin Lin did, they never would have filed the lawsuit in the first place. In other words, there is no single unified voice in Hollywood, and more importantly, outsiders like us should think twice before assuming to know without a shadow of a doubt what they think or how they'll act. None of us are clairvoyant.
D'oh! I need more coffee.
It's not unreasonable to think that CBS was looking out for all of their properties and JJ was looking out for his movie. He's always been a fan film fan -- he brought James Cawley to film a background scene on the first Trek movie -- so his biases might rest there.
Abrams has a lot of pull in Hollywood. Not so much that he can wave his hand and have the case dropped. But enough that he can influence the case being settled, and not exactly in a way CBS wants.
Exactly. I agree.
It certainly seems as if he did just that. You can split hairs over what constitutes "dropping" vs. "settlement" or whatever. It still falls within the realm of a surprise upset victory for Axanar. Even if Axanar is incapable of finishing the project for one reason or another, it can now claim it martyred itself for fan-filmdom.
And hey, if that's the case, great! This problem never would have come to a head if not for CBS/P being unwilling to really engage the fan-film community directly, because of their fear-based approach to protecting their copyright. The end result was what we just saw over these last few years, which is fan-film crowdfunding gradually pushing and pushing the envelope, continuing to poke the lion with the stick to see at what threshold it would strike.
So it's not entirely Axanar's fault and there's a way out if CBS/P just acknowledges what's going on. They should not just arbitrarily and indiscriminately hit the C&D buttons.
In my IMO, Wil Wheaton's summary of AP & Co. and Axanar is very relevant, especially in light of the supposed settlement negotiations.
>snip< "They’ve put all fan films at risk, because they exploited the passion and love that Trekkies have for Star Trek to get money, and now they’re acting like they’re innocent victims of big bad CBS. These people are not innocent victims. They are morally and ethically and legally in the wrong, and while I have a lot of problems with copyright and IP law, these guys are not the people I want to be the poster children for reforming those laws." >snip<
Wil Wheaton Condemns Star Trek Axanar
>snip< "They’ve put all fan films at risk, because they exploited the passion and love that Trekkies have for Star Trek to get money, and now they’re acting like they’re innocent victims of big bad CBS. These people are not innocent victims. They are morally and ethically and legally in the wrong, and while I have a lot of problems with copyright and IP law, these guys are not the people I want to be the poster children for reforming those laws." >snip<
No one's ever said 'no impact on their bottom line..." - we have been saying "negligible impact on their bottom line..."; and make no mistake that IF the suits don't want to settle, they won't settle. Everything is motivated by bottom line in the end. It wasn't the lawyers who ultimately decided to bring the suit (they certainly suggested it) - in the end it wa the 'bean counters' who went ahead with it - and ultimately it will be the 'bean counters' who agree to a settlement (if JJ Abrams is correct and due to whatever 'influnce' he and Justin Lin had) IF a settlement is reached/the case is dropped.)
Also, Alec won't be able to claim victory until a settlement is reached/signed; or the case is dropped plus the terms of the settlement may include that he say anything - but also as many here have also pointed out - JJ Abrams isn't a part of the C/P legal team and no settlement has been reached as yet, nor has the case been dropped yet.
I guess we'll all see in a few weeks whether JJ Abrams is correct in his statement or not.
Well, it looks like JJ and Justin Lin know that Axanar is exactly what the "true" Trek fans want to see. 
It's somewhat comforting to think that this case may still not come out in Peters' favor, but seeing Abrams and Lin attempting to placate the small but vociferous pro-Axanar crowd is disgusting, especially given all the bile they've been slinging at JJ-Trek this whole time. It's a bit like if Barrack Obama were to suddenly throw support behind Donald Trump. Not to politicize it, but that's the best analogy I can think of under the circumstances.
I've been to 1701 News and it's exasperating to see all the premature gloating from the Axanar supporters in the comments section.
It's somewhat comforting to think that this case may still not come out in Peters' favor, but seeing Abrams and Lin attempting to placate the small but vociferous pro-Axanar crowd is disgusting, especially given all the bile they've been slinging at JJ-Trek this whole time. It's a bit like if Barrack Obama were to suddenly throw support behind Donald Trump. Not to politicize it, but that's the best analogy I can think of under the circumstances.
I've been to 1701 News and it's exasperating to see all the premature gloating from the Axanar supporters in the comments section.
I'd laugh my ass off if nothing is different than it was a week ago and this was just JJ's way of telling everyone that they're settling and Alec (like most other people initially) interpreted it to mean it's getting dropped.
I'd love to be in the room if and when Alec learns that's not the case.
I'd love to be in the room if and when Alec learns that's not the case.
It's not splitting hairs. There's a big difference between dropping a case, thus letting everyone go back to what they were doing before, infringements and all, and in settling a case with restrictions and changes, agreed to, enforced, if not exactly loved. The latter is happening here. But you are right in that this is a victory for Axanar. CBS was prepared to go all the way to trial, one it read to me like they'd win. JJ did what Axanar couldn't do with their MTD: remove much of CBS' leverage. Alec will be able to spin this as a heroic victory.
I really disagree with this assessment. CBS pretty much let every fan film do what they wanted. They tweaked instead of crushed. And legally, they didn't want the headache of issuing and maintaining licenses. Don't forget, fan films are a narrow slice of the community. Both trailers for the new series and new films have gotten more hits in a day than Axanar has had in watches in its life.
But IP issues are important. I'm biased here because I produce creative IP and I've seen a lot of it ripped, pirated, and spread. And I'm a tiny little indie writer / producer with no great fame or influence. Most of the the "copyright doesn't matter" arguments I've encountered are from people who think it's about taking some money from giant corporations, not realizing the numerous small-time folks that get creamed in the process.
My personal interest here is in seeing IP defended. I'm a miffed that Abrams doesn't seem to care as much or that his calculus is different than mine. When you are worth hundreds or millions and responsible for billion-dollar tentpoles at multiple studios, I can see that you might not care as much if a small fan film infringes. Most of us don't breathe that air and never will. Backing off of this like it looks like they're doing? I think it just makes it more difficult for the rest of us.
While those with the gold don't necessarily make the rules, the more gold they have, the more they get to jack those rules in their interests.
Hey, that would be just like that scene from Downfall....
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