I'm glad you put that out there; if for no other reason than to (hopefully) put a stop to the personal attacks on your knowledge and/or character. However, I've been around the block more than a few times and feel that I'm fairly perceptive when it comes to who is bullshitting and who isn't. I've never doubted your veracity or your qualifications and I hope that we can lay that issue to rest once and for all. (hey, we can hope)
I think there's a basic misunderstanding of what I meant by "Argument from Authority". I didn't mean that he had no authority (though it would seem to me that his experience comes almost entirely from one side of the court room). Rather, I was indicating that I felt he was substituting his authority
for an actual argument. There's a difference between having experience and sharing pertinent examples thereof with others. If someone told you that you were wrong, and didn't tell you why, would you simply take it on faith because the person is an authority on the subject? Or would you ask them to explain themselves?
In that case those fans can make their own original content, or trim that stuff out.
Wouldn't this actually have the effect of creating competition for CBS, though? True, they wouldn't be able to get funding from an established fan base, so getting anything off the ground would be difficult, but any original films that succeed would be competing for the same general eyeballs. Isn't it possible that this might negatively impact the profitability of the franchise in the long term?
The guidelines are saying, in essence, that CBS/P are not supportive of this type of fan production. They are ok with 15 minute short films but not reproductions of full length Trek episodes or running a parallel 'series' of the show. This seems quite reasonable to me. A good compromise between protecting their IP and allowing fans to play with the content.
This sums up my feelings on the guidance generally, that they've been generous in creating a safe space for fan productions to operate. The guidelines are aimed at curtailing ambitions to make professional grade films using their IP, and I can't fall out with that motivation. They have the exclusive right to do that themselves.
I can understand your position that short films are better, even if I do disagree with it. What I don't understand it is the idea that one's work history should dictate whether or not they get to make a fan film. (Keep in mind, people have no control over what professional experience they already have just prior to the Guidelines being announced.) Nor do I understand the sentiment that the amount of quality put into a film determines whether or not it's a fan film . The quality of one's work or the content of one's resume do not determine the purity of one's heart with regards to their love of the franchise, and what is a fan work if not an expression of one's love for a franchise?
By contrast, I fully understand, and agree with, the sentiment that people should not personally gain from the production of a fan film, but that has nothing to do with job history or quality of work.
My only grumble is that the guidelines were not enforced fairly. Certain productions seemed to get an exception and be allowed to continue producing full length episodes, ongoing series etc way past the point these were released. This too is their prerogative but seems to defeat the object a little. If the idea is to set out clearly what is and isn't acceptable, not enforcing them muddies the water again.
If I could "like" only part of a message, I would done so in this case.
The goal was never to treat all fan films fairly and nicely and equally, or to have CBS take on extra work, do paperwork and oversight of every fan film, and give the appearance that they officially, actually approve of this stuff. It was to make sure no one tried anything as obviously over the line as Axanar ever again.
If that's the case, they could have just gone after all the Kickstarter-funded projects over $50,000 and left it at that.
That is a line for me as well. In essence, these guidelines encourage shorter, more amateurish, productions, rather than trying to create replicas of full Star Trek episodes. Which, certainly makes sense since CBS, as you stated, would not want to be encouraging 1 to 1 replicas of their format.
The problem is that, when it comes to TOS (and in the future, other Trek series), it will eventually become possible for nearly anyone to create a 1 to 1 replica because of the advancement of technology and the availability of information and tutorials from the maker community. At some point, people would have to start deliberately doing a half-a$$ed job just to avoid a recreation that indistinguishable from the respective series. I think we've basically already hit that point with TOS. Given enough time and effort, anyone can create something of similar quality to TOS, even if they have no professional experience. It's a situation where commitment to quality is treated as a negative.
Here is my struggle-why do fan films need "long form story telling?"
What's with the quotes? It's not like the industry doesn't already distinguish between different content lengths, if only for scheduling purposes.
That's the part that I find most difficult to overcome, largely because, unless you put in a lot of time and effort and resources, it is very difficult to do so. I respect fan filmmakers, and have done more than a few, but I know that finding people willing to do the project for free who can act, write, render, etc. is difficult.
To me, 15 minutes is a reasonable about of time.
I don't buy the idea that we should limit people to 15 minutes because it's hard to do anything longer than 15 minutes. If it's so hard to do, then the degree of effort would serve as a natural barrier, and the people who overcome that barrier with careful planning and effort would would be cheated by such a rule, assuming the reason for such a rule in the first place is actually their protection.
Secondarily, and more generally on your additions, it sounds like you want more clarification on certain points.
That's a fair assessment. I'd say half of my issues with the Guidelines revolve around clarity.
Also, why in the world would it be difficult to identify "bootlegged" merchandise over officially licensed? I'm not the brightest person but I certainly can do that at least.
There are a lot of Chinese knockoffs out there, and some are marketed as the real thing. I've read Amazon reviews by people who found out after the fact that the LG headset they ordered wasn't authentic. It's not a stretch to believe that they could produce a product that's indistinguishable from official.
However, I'm also concerned about grey situations. For instance, if someone from another fan production recommends someone they had previously hired to make uniforms for them, and you ask that person to make the same uniforms for you, is that person now an unlicensed commercial producer of Star Trek merchandise? Should fan film makers even be put into the position of trying to figure that out?
Huh. IP owners not liking other people taking IP that doesn't belong to them and making money from it?! Huh.
He sure told you, Scarecrow!
So if someone just happened to make velour shirts/dresses in a certain three colors CBS could not really go after them, and I doubt they'd actually go after a fanfilm group for using them. They'd simply use it, as per Axanar, as an example of how much a fanfilm infringes upon their copyrighted property should they choose to come after you.
Well, it either infringes or it doesn't. Perhaps it may infringe as part of a greater whole. Is that what you're suggesting?
Props be a different matter.
Are props covered by copyright? Or is that solely the domain of design patents? (Trademark would probably cover things like insignia pins...)
Almost exactly a year ago, the SCOTUS seemed to have expanded the copyrightability of costume designs in
Star Athletica vs. Varsity Brands. See:
http://www.scotusblog.com/2017/03/o...-validate-broad-copyright-industrial-designs/
I'm not sure the TOS uniforms, minus the delta insignia, would be covered here. They're too simple, and a lot of the flourishes, such as the rank on the sleeves, are things that came from the Navy. Later uniforms may be a different story, though.
It's like copyrighting the verb "to go".
What if you use a split infinitive?
