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CBS, Paramount Settle Lawsuit Over 'Star Trek' Fan Film (hollywoodreporter.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Hollywood Reporter: Stand down from battle stations. Star Trek rights holders CBS and Paramount have seen the logic of settling a copyright suit against Alec Peters, who solicited money on crowdfunding sites and hired professionals to make a YouTube short and a script of a planned feature film focused on a fictional event -- a Starfleet captain's victory in a war with the Klingon Empire -- referenced in the original 1960s Gene Roddenberry television series. Thanks to the settlement, CBS and Paramount won't be going to trial on Stardate 47634.44, known to most as Jan. 31, 2017. According to a joint statement, "Paramount Pictures Corporation, CBS Studios Inc., Axanar Productions, Inc. and Alec Peters are pleased to announce that the litigation regarding Axanar's film Prelude to Axanar and its proposed film Axanar has been resolved. Axanar and Mr. Peters acknowledge that both films were not approved by Paramount or CBS, and that both works crossed boundaries acceptable to CBS and Paramount relating to copyright law." Peters' Axanar video and script, which feature such arguably copyrighted elements as Vulcan ears, the Klingon language and an obscure character from a 1969 episode, sparked a lawsuit in December 2015. The litigation then proceeded at warp speed with the case almost making it to trial in just 13 months, an amazingly brisk pace by typical standards. When Axanar comes out, it will look different. "Axanar and Mr. Peters have agreed to make substantial changes to Axanar to resolve this litigation, and have also assured the copyright holders that any future Star Trek fan films produced by Axanar or Mr. Peters will be in accordance with the 'Guidelines for Fan Films' distributed by CBS and Paramount in June 2016," states the parties' joint announcement of a settlement.
So it probably means Axanar will be severely downgraded, quality-wise. Sad for the fans, but can't say they were right.
Lord Garth, formerly of Izar, is not OBSCURE. He is MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE!!!!!!!
The only thing I can read from this is that in order to meet CBS/Viacom/Paramount requirements, it can't retain any of the Star Trek elements we'd like to see. In which case, it will be just another space combat short with no connection to any greater framework that makes it have relevance. Peters' bluster has not only ruined his Axanar project that would have brought an interesting bit of Trek 'history' to light, but it has ruined the chances of any other fan film becoming a serious production worthy of consideration, thanks to those stringent guidelines CBS understandably developed.
No sir I did not!
Goodbye and thanks for all the fish, Paramount/CBS!
Anybody who isn't abandoning Trek completely now is an absolute fool. Furthermore if the Klingon language is copyright(ed/able), then even the unofficial unicode range for it should be overwritten. Klingon cultural fans who previously wore forehead prosthetics should either migrate their culture, or finally give up on it (take up japanese and bushido instead, or mongolian!) And that also means Bat'leth clones are violating copyright under the rules meaning buying them unless Paramount licensed is a violation of copyright law as well as being one more way for CBS/Paramount to say FU to its fans.
Remember folks, if Discovery makes it to TV/their webservice, boycott the fuck out of it. Make the Trek property so worthless they can't sell it for pennies on the dollar. Then once the boycott is complete, if you really really really still have any interest in it, get a holding company to purchase it for you at a fraction of its original worth and license all assets related to it under the CCbySA license. Anybody can use it, anybody can sell it, but trying to keep your own derivations copyrighted and using them against others is violating the agreement. Only then and finally will people be able to freely express themselves as Trekies and use it to forward the culture they believe the future holds from watching and participating in it.
Same to Star Wars fans, but good luck ever getting that IP out of Disney, just like if they get Trek in the near future...
This was an out and out capitulation. 2 15 minute episode instead of a 100 minute movie? Yeah, we are getting our contribution's worth there. CBS is going to kill Trek and fandom.
Axenar looked significantly better than anything Paramount/CBS has come up with in the past 20 years. They had to kill it.
#DeleteChrome
To save some web searching, here is the movie on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?... , and the web site for the production company: http://www.axanarproductions.c...
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
The law may be on the side of CBS and Paramount, but I'd like to know how they're harmed by the production of fan fiction. There's a case to be made that use of trademarks may be a problem, but the companies chose not to pursue that issue. They focused on copyright. How did this harm them?
Fan fiction doesn't reduce fan interest in the franchise and the works created by CBS and Paramount. Instead, it increases interest, by keeping fans interested in between series and movies and perhaps winning over new fans who might encounter the videos on Youtube. Thefan works are non-canon, and there's no reason why it would reduce the desire of fans for films that are considered canon. For example, Star Trek Continues makes use of most of the TOS characters played by different actors. I don't see any logical reason that Star Trek Continues would reduce interest in TOS, though. If anything, encountering that on Youtube might make viewers want to watch TOS and increase revenue for CBS and Paramount.
How could there be any damages to CBS and Paramount? Those donations are to cover the cost of production, not for the creators to pocket the money. That money was never going to CBS and Paramount anyway, who don't solicit donations to pay for the cost of their films. Instead, the studios set a budget, invest that money, and get paid though advertising and at the box office (for movies).
How were CBS and Paramount possibly harmed? And if they're not harmed, how could they collect any damages at all?
Some odd things in their guidelines
"Videos must not include profanity, nudity, obscenity, pornography, depictions of drugs, alcohol, tobacco, or any harmful or illegal activity.
Data has said "shit" in startrek before.
There has been some nudity in a couple of episodes, bum shots.
The entire crew of the enterprise got intoxicated on drugs in more than one occasion.
Some startrek drinks contain alcohol.
I'm sure there have been characters on the holodeck smoking tobacco before.
And.. if you can't show any "harmful or illegal activity" then anyone being murdered is out. No spaceships blowing up and killing anyone, unless it was accidental.
"uniforms, accessories, toys and props must be official merchandise and not bootleg items or imitations of such commercially available products"
This also seems a bit problematic, official merch/toys is often inferior to fan made props
I live in Seattle so the steaming video links to what rump said is unobtainable. We are blocked from participating in politics.
Sure, I understand that you can copyright a story. But fucking Vulcan ears?
Stardate 47634.44 would be in the middle of Star Trek: The Next Generation 7th season. But no Picard? Fake!
The fan production must be family friendly and suitable for public presentation. Videos must not include profanity, nudity, obscenity, pornography, depictions of drugs, alcohol, tobacco, or any harmful or illegal activity, or any material that is offensive, fraudulent, defamatory, libelous, disparaging, sexually explicit, threatening, hateful, or any other inappropriate content. The content of the fan production cannot violate any individual’s right of privacy.
But can it say that a particular scene depicts profanity, nudity, obscenity, etc etc, because the alien race in that scene considers the events unfolding to be of that nature?
Everyone knows they were modeled on depictions of demons having pointed ears.
Star Trek Continues also violates those same guidelines (high-quality props/sets/uniforms instead of toy-store quality items, professional acting/directing/scriptwriting, episode length and continuity, etc.) and so could well be sued. However, Trek Continues is creating this content in an explicitly not-for-profit context. Trek Continues therefore is holding high hopes that CBS will choose not to exercise their legal rights against them.
Since CBS/Paramount and the Star Trek franchise are not demonstrably hurt by the Trek Continues production (and suing them might well result in such damage), the people associated with Trek Continues have said publicly that they intend to create the full eleven episode run which they originally set out to publish - intended to fill the gap between the episode Turnabout Intruder and Star Trek: The Motion Picture. They've also pointed out that just because CBS/Paramount can sue them doesn't mean they will sue them. They've said that they have sufficient funding and resources to complete and publish the remaining four episodes. While there's a lot if if coming off this, I share their hopes. CBS/Paramount would do vastly more to harm their interests by suing than they might gain from injunctive relief in this case. But - yes, Alec Peters tried to stick his fingers in the cookie jar, so to speak, and risked ruining a lot of great fan fiction for all of us.
A perfect example of the point I made earlier and previously when talking about Star Wars under Disney versus under Lucas. Not funding your own oppression is hardly radical, it's quite sensible to recognize that politics are very much a part of the matter involved in dealing with corporate media (such as Hollywood movies and TV shows). This also isn't a matter of seeking perfection -- if /.ers stop paying to see Star Trek we don't take down Paramount -- that argument puts more power in your hands than you have (flattery) and then tries to argue how you shouldn't use that power to get what you (presumably) want: more Star Trek-related works and the option of being a participant in that, not just a consumer. It's a matter of recognizing whether you want your money to go toward organizations that needlessly restrict their biggest fans from celebrating the work or organizations that show they're not jerks by letting the derivative works coexist and even considering them a challenge to come up with better plots, interesting characters, and another innovative series.
Digital Citizen
ST Continues was very well made, and most importantly, well-acted. It's now dead because of this crap
The guidelines they set out are sufficient that another company isn't allowed to have Star Trek TV show.
In this particular case, actually the guy WAS pocketing the money, which was the biggest issue. You can still make fan fiction if you want, you just can't sell tickets to a professionally-produced full-length feature film starring well-known actors b without getting permission first.
> The only thing I can read from this is that in order to meet CBS/Viacom/Paramount requirements, it can't retain any of the Star Trek elements we'd like to see
Read the actual guidelines rather than reading between the lines of the Slashdot summary. IF you want to use all the Star Trek trademarks and copyright stuff, you're not allowed to dob the following, unless you ask permission first:
Sell tickets
Have a long-running TV show with many episodes
Buy knock-off costumes (you can make them or buy licensed costumes)
Hire professional actors and crew
This was the only Trek property I wanted to see. It was really, really good. Why didn't they just hire them?
(Liberal snow flakes please just move to read the next comment and keep your mod phasers set to stun). This whole thing just highlights what is fundamentally wrong with copyright. This is a cut and dried example of how the ridiculously long copyright laws supported by both establishment parties are stifling and robbing our culture and are only for the enrichment of a few. This is the system that Barak Hussain Obama defended and did not fix for the last 8 years. We will have to see what the next administration brings.
We badly need to reform the system to something reasonable and in line with the original intent. Star Trek first aired in 1966, and it's creator is now dead. Reasonable copyright of 40 years from the creation date would put the Star Trek universe squarely in the public domain, while subsequent movies would still be protected for 40 years from their first showing. Nothing will change though if we the people just keep on bending over and taking it.
If you disagree, please post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like
I get all your comments that it violated copyright. And I agree that he was selling model kits and taking a salary.
It was a bad scene.
The problem is that Axenar was one of the best star trek treatments I've seen since Wrath of Khan.
It felt RIGHT.
It sent shivers up and down my spine.
In a different world, CBS and Paramount would have have had Peters and the original crew make it as a real film as their employees in a regular setting.
And that would have also probably ruined it. Too big a budget ruins so many films.
And the premise may not have stood up to a full 90 to 110 minute film.
I could even see a partnership between kickstarters willing to invest money so it got made and recieve blue/ray copies on release into theatres and cbs/paramount who wouldn't have to spend nearly as much and just distribute it for profit.
They could have had stretch goals funded by higher box office gross receipts. (like a copy of the ship... a uniform... props. etc.)
As a star fleet battles player, it was really nice to see the battles were implemented with star fleet battles in mind (and perhaps actually played out with SFB in mind).
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
If anything, the film maker should have been granted a reasonable license fee from the studio for using the copyrighted works. We all know the reboot is trash and here we have someone going back to the series' roots to make something new.
My Valcun first officer tells me we're running the risk of Klangon attack, but I never listen to that pointy-nosed pink-blooded twerp.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
Wouldn't copyrighting a language run afoul of the First Amendment ? I would like to see the results of a lawsuit of this
You can't follow guidelines that don't exist. Those were created specifically to hinder Axanar after the lawsuit was already in progress.
They would buy the movie and release it professional since by all accounts it's better than what Paramount has been producing.
It would be different for me if CBS and Paramount were actively engaged (pun intended) in producing ongoing Trek material. The new reboot movies notwithstanding don't cut it completely, though they are "nice". We've been without a Trek series for many years, fans are sick of the franchise going to hell due to lack of initiative by the studios. This is really about money, at the end of the day. So CBS and Paramount sit on the rights to Trek, but have no plans to really do much about it, except litigate. Go figure.
I'm the same AC as before, and as I've read over the comments and looked into the issue on my own, it seems like Axanar was for profit. I can see why CBS/Paramount would oppose that and how they might have a legitimate claim. However, I also stand behind my view that truly non-profit fan fiction doesn't harm CBS/Paramount in any way. The regulations provided by CBS/Paramount are restrictive enough to eliminate other high-quality fan fiction that isn't for profit. Star Trek Continues also violates the guidelines, but I have a hard time seeing how their copyright infringement is harmful to CBS/Paramount in any significant way. There's no question that Star Trek Continues is non-profit, but the scale and quality of their production runs afoul of the restrictions. I believe those rules are unnecessarily restrictive, should CBS/Paramount choose to enforce them.
I think it would be far more enlightened to say that all fan fiction must be non-profit, and anything beyond the restrictions imposed must give CBS/Paramount a royalty-free license to distribute and profit off the work. By that, I mean that I'd have no problem if CBS wanted to broadcast Star Trek Continues or use clips of it in their own productions. Effectively, it would be CBS/Paramount saying that, if you infringe our copyrights and you to it well enough, we might take your work and make it canon. That would be cool and an enlightened approach to dealing with the issue, IMO. Seeing as recent Star Trek productions have been of a pretty low quality, it would might well be good for the Star Trek franchise. I've watched all seven episodes of Star Trek Continues, and they're very well done. I expect the 11 planned episodes of that fan-produced series will actually be better than the 13 episodes of Star Trek Discovery that CBS has committed to.
The Deathstar was preceeded by the Fesarius of the First Federation in Novemeber 1966, almost 11 years to the day when Star Wars premeiered !
I think they profited.. just a Little
The Enteprise Saucer was a rippoff of the Forbidden Planet D57
The military and spacesuits a rippoff of the Forbidden Planet space corps
I think CBS/Paramount protests a little too much.. looks to me like 10 years and rippoff is fair game.
What about Data and Robby the Robot?
It is perhaps worth noting that the guidelines are an additional grant of license by Paramount / CBS. People who want to do something outside of those guidelines can still ask permission, and I suspect it would be granted if it were in the same spirit as what the guidelines envision.
Of course, people can also still make Fair Use works, and "not for profit" gets you halfway to fair use.
> Star Trek Continues also violates the guidelines, but I have a hard time seeing how their copyright infringement is harmful to CBS/Paramount in any significant way.
It appears CBS and Paramount may agree with you - they haven't taken any enforcement action against Star Trek Continues, as far as I know.
I don't think CBS and Paramount could announce a policy of allowing "non-profit" use with professional cast and crew. They can be forced to honor whatever policy they publish, and a producer could pay himself a salary of $1 million. No "profit", that's his salary as professional producer.
The problem here is the overreach of copyright law. It is being used to stifle innovation and the advancement of creative works.
We are talking about violation by tangentially referencing a 40+ year old body of work.
You probably work as a maintenance man too. Too dumb to participate anyway.