Free Star Trek eBook by S&S (US only) and return of Strange New Worlds

[Bibliomike]

Here is a nice interview with winner Kelli Fitzpatrick of Beaverton, Michigan, in her local press.

 

[Sto-Vo-Kory]

Here is a nice interview with winner Kelli Fitzpatrick of Beaverton, Michigan, in her local press.

Thanks for the link, Bibliomike. That was a nice piece on her.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Since the scam-like nature of the latest SNW contest came up here, let me quote this post I made on the SNW thread on April 21st:

So today I got a phone call from someone with Simon & Schuster. They had my info because I sent them an inquiry email last year about the SNW contest.

The thing is, I never entered the contest.

After reading what Dean Wesley Smith had to say about the contest (http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/not-editing-new-star-trek-strange-new-worlds/), I decided it sounded kind of shady, and that it was more about steering people over to the S&S vanity presses and getting writers to buy their package. Today the guy asked me if I'd be up for revising my story to remove the Trek references so I could submit it to their vanity press. I told him no, and thanked him for his call. But my main thought was that they must be pretty desperate to get people to sign up for this thing if they're calling someone who only sent an inquiry email and never submitted a story.

Did anyone else here get a call like that?

P.S. - I decided to revise my story (which only really works as a follow-up to a Trek episode) and submit it to IDW, as I think I could make it work as a Trek comic. Wish me luck!

 

[Bibliomike]

Good luck! Does IDW take unsolicited Trek pitches?

 

[Bibliomike]

Interesting mention of SNW (the old contest) in the context of the ongoing Axanar controversy...
http://www.newsweek.com/will-studio-sanctioned-guidelines-mark-end-star-trek-fan-films-463542
The point of comparison is that, given that Paramount may now impose guidelines on fan films -

Star Trek has held similar contests for written fan fiction on and off since the late 1990s, publishing winning stories in its Star Trek: Strange New Worlds anthologies. Guidelines include limitations on “explicit sexual activity or graphic depictions of violence or sadism” as well as anything that reveals “the hidden passion two characters feel for each other” (a rule apparently inspired by the long-standing popularity of Star Trek "slash" fiction, something Newsweek made note of in 2009). All contest entries “become the sole and exclusive property” of the publisher.

All of these programs are based on creators submitting their works to copyright owners or their agents for approval, an approach that some in today’s freewheeling creative world of fan films may find limiting. Lucasfilm's "walled garden" model, says attorney Kang, wouldn't work for Axanar or other major productions. "They may be looking at a broader set of guidelines," he says.​

It's unfortunate that the article perpetrates the notion SNW stories are fan fiction - as we've hashed out numerous times here, they're not. Other than that, I don't know - I could see how Paramount could enforce guidelines in a contest setting, but how are they going to enforce guidelines for people making fan films? How is punishing the people who violate the new guidelines going to be any less costly or time-consuming that punishing any fan film at all?

For the record, I don't think Axanar has a legal leg to stand on, and I think they're mighty lucky if they get to go forward under any circumstances.

 

[Christopher]

Other than that, I don't know - I could see how Paramount could enforce guidelines in a contest setting, but how are they going to enforce guidelines for people making fan films? How is punishing the people who violate the new guidelines going to be any less costly or time-consuming that punishing any fan film at all?

Well, how likely are such violations going to be? It seems to me that, for decades, fan authors and filmmakers were aware of the less formally defined rule that they were okay as long as they didn't try to make a profit or compete on a professional level using someone else's intellectual property. The Axanar case seems to me like a pretty rare and high-profile instance of overreach, which is why it took this long for a suit like this to happen.

And really, it's not like defending intellectual property is something new or unusual. It's just part of the territory. Just the other day, I went looking online for reviews of my new story in the June Analog, and what I found instead was an illegal torrent site for downloading the June Analog. So I promptly reported it to the Analog folks so they could see about getting taken down. Enforcing the existing rules is routine. The problem with the Axanar case, evidently, is that the ground rules were ambiguously defined, and it's because of the argument over that gray area that the lawsuit happened. Defining the parameters more clearly would make it more a matter of routine to address violations when they do happen, and that would be less involved and expensive than a lengthy court fight over what the parameters are in the first place. (Though I agree with you that the Axanar people clearly stepped over the line. But a formal, overtly defined set of fan-film parameters would make it harder for others to do the same and claim they hadn't.)