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CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar

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keel said:
NONE of the fan-based production groups make money off the fans from their films. The films are free to view by the public. They are funded by donations from individuals, businesses and fans of all types and those who work on the films do so of their own free will and time. Back in the '70's, before fan-based films, before Paramount Trek films, fans were producing all kinds of written material, artistic material, visual material, audio material and Paramount cracked down on NONE of it, even tho a large percentage of the material was Kirk/Spock gay porn. Paramount cracked down on fan-based materials only when something became financially successful, such as my 'Klingon Covert Operations Manual' around 1990. I also produced the first Klingon text-font in 1984 and if I had charged for it, I've no doubt Paramount would have stopped that as well, since over 350,000 copies have been downloaded last I checked (10 years ago). It was ONLY with the Axanar film production that Paramount began cracking down on films, simply because they were using real actors, real directors, producers, construction crew, film crew, etc..... The TRUE fan-based Trek films have been left completely alone other than via Paramount's 'rules' dictate, which has devastated any ability by anyone to produce a film. A 15-minute short is all they are allowed and no actors or anyone having anything to do with the film industry is allowed to participate. You can't make a true film of 15 minutes other than what they call short-shorts that you might see at Canne or other film festivals that are used to draw interest to the person, people or businesses that produced them. Paramount has thus created a monopoly, akin to the old Bell Telephone company and their rules should be voided. I will never go see a Paramount Trek film again. The last one was utter trash.
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Alec, if that's you, I'd like the patch and "Prelude" blu-ray disc I bought to contribute to your unmade movie, please.
 
^^^ :D I see what you did there! :lol:

Honestly, though, if we existed in that kind of system, I likely would have been "corrected" a long time ago... :shifty:
 
Daddy Todd said:
Cracked down on NONE of it? Then how did the editors of fanzine Dreadnought Explorations get a c&d from Paramount lawyers in 1977, forcing them to abandon their ‘zine mid-storyline?
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That incident has been widely sensationalized. An eager beaver with the legal department got carried away, but the zines remained available. The authors soon issued a two-volume compilation of the work, and in the 80's, my own ORION PRESS issued a novel-length compilation of the story. Not once have I ever heard from Paramount about it.
 
Potemkin_Prod said:
That incident has been widely sensationalized. An eager beaver with the legal department got carried away, but the zines remained available. The authors soon issued a two-volume compilation of the work, and in the 80's, my own ORION PRESS issued a novel-length compilation of the story. Not once have I ever heard from Paramount about it.
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Huh. I never heard the rest of the story. I picked up the first 4 or 5 issues at a con in 1977, but my inquiries about subsequent issues went unanswered. Long after, I read about the c&d to the editors.

Did they ever finish the story? Is it online anywhere? I’ve been waiting 40 freaking years for the ending. ASOIAF and Chtorr fans got nothing to complain about...

Anyway, the point of my post was that it was a false assertion that Star Trek’s owners NEVER said anything to fan writers or fan films before LFIM. They have issued at least one c&d, which invalidates the “never” claim.
 
I actually went and looked up my copy of DREADNOUGHT EXPLORATIONS. Here is the actual statement from Linda S. Maclaren and Gina Martin, published in 1992 in our edition:

Now, all of this started back in 1976, when Star Trek fanzines were burgeoning around the world. Paramount was edgy about their turf, and Star Trek: The Motion Picture was just down the road. So we got a letter telling us to cease and desist (they really used those words); we were infringing on the Star Trek copyright. We countered that fanzines were keeping Star Trek alive in the hearts and minds of fans everywhere (we didn't really use those words). They said we were too good to be called a fanzine (interesting how they managed a pat on the back and a slap in the face at the same time!). We said a fanzine is defined as an amateur publication written by fans for other fans, and quality should have nothing to do with it...oh, and it shouldn't make enough money to make either Paramount or the IRS nervous. After all, if we used Paramount's definition, how many fanzines would have to be called pro-novels, and how many of the Star Trek pro-novels would have to be redefined as fanzines? It boggles the synapses.

Anyway, this little contretemps probably started all those rumors about how we had been sued by Paramount, were bankrupt, had to flee the country, or were currently languishing in jail.
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The initial fanzines ran in 1976. The Canadian Contingent Press version was published as a two-volume set in 1981 and contained "the first five issues and added two more in an effort to give the story a greater sense of closure." Gina and Linda were encouraged to go pro, and after thinking about it, wrote a novelization of DE and submitted it to an agent. "She loved it. She sent it to Dave Stern, the Star Trek editor at Pocketbooks. He didn't love it."

When I approached them to reprint the CCP version in 1991, they told me they wanted me to publish the novelization, and that's exactly what I did. I have one final copy here, a little thread bare, but definitely reproducible. I'd be glad to get you a copy. Just IM me for the details.
 
Potemkin_Prod said:
Besides, I thought a LOT of fan sites were hit with CnD's over the years, especially those with pictures, music and sound...
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I Seem to remember something about a lot of fan sites getting shut down or having to redesign their sites to remove unwanted copyright stuff but can't seem to remember the details of it.
 
Ashy Slashy said:
jfbm5CE.jpg

All that sushi adds up quickly when the donors are footing the bill.
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:drool:
Maybe donors should be reimbursed with sushi restaurant vouchers
 
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Other than to satiate his own ego/satisfy his own narcissism, what could LFIM truly hope to gain by continuing his ranting and raving? Winning in the court of public opinion is a lost cause (it has been for quite some time). No one in the business is going to take him seriously for a second and there are no chances of him rising to prominence anywhere/in any sort of organization.

Man needs to learn when to quit.
 
RedForman said:
Other than to satiate his own ego/satisfy his own narcissism, what could LFIM truly hope to gain by continuing his ranting and raving? Winning in the court of public opinion is a lost cause (it has been for quite some time). No one in the business is going to take him seriously for a second and there are no chances of him rising to prominence anywhere/in any sort of organization.
.
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He is upset that an Axanar "hater" gets to work on the show that is now his new favorite show when nobody will offer him a chance to work on anything. He's jealous and will be hiding behind his 20 minute shows when he is in the nursing home like the former high school QB who keeps watching the video of his great game winning play from 30 years ago.
 
You mean like the former high school quarterback who keeps saying he could have been the next Peyton Manning if only someone had given him a chance.
 
Sgt_G said:
You mean like the former high school quarterback who keeps saying he could have been the next Peyton Manning if only someone had given him a chance.
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More like "if the system hadn't fucked me over!" Always someone else's fault............:brickwall:
 
carlosp said:
On AxaMonitor:
HUNDREDS LEAVE Alec Peters' Facebook groups after he airs personal accusations before 90,000 Axanar and Orville fans. Read more »

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90,000. This article will come to the attention of whoever does PR for Orville. I sense an awakening in the Force-Him-Out, Luke.

Maybe his apology should be responded to with a retweet/screengrab of his gun threat concurrent with the LV massacre, and ask if while he is at it, would he care to apologize for that, too.
 
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