Prelude is the only thing that we can actually compare to and that is what mostly I hear Pro-Axanar fans refer to as the "true" Trek.
I'm not quite sure how you mean about it being the only thing we can compare it to That it was presented ina documentary-style, I agree, that was pretty unique wait, no it wasn't, there was an episode of Babylon 5 (possibly the last episode, I forget) which also had a NewsCast style... Anyhoo, that aside, the uniforms were reminiscent of those worn in The Cage, and the ships, while JJTrek hulls, had TOS re-skins, so that's certainly comparable. What I'd say with regards True Trek, is that while there was indeed a battle going on, the focus was about the combatants taking part, and the political landscape surrounding them, it wasn't just the thoughtless PewPewLENSFLAREPewPew of 09 or Into Darkness, so I'd guess that's what they were refering to
The B5 ep you're referring to is 'And now for a Word...', Season 2.
I'm pretty sure it was Season 5, as it revealed that Sheridan had been married to Lockley years before...
Prelude is the only thing that we can actually compare to and that is what mostly I hear Pro-Axanar fans refer to as the "true" Trek.
I'm not quite sure how you mean about it being the only thing we can compare it to That it was presented ina documentary-style, I agree, that was pretty unique wait, no it wasn't, there was an episode of Babylon 5 (possibly the last episode, I forget) which also had a NewsCast style... Anyhoo, that aside, the uniforms were reminiscent of those worn in The Cage, and the ships, while JJTrek hulls, had TOS re-skins, so that's certainly comparable. What I'd say with regards True Trek, is that while there was indeed a battle going on, the focus was about the combatants taking part, and the political landscape surrounding them, it wasn't just the thoughtless PewPewLENSFLAREPewPew of 09 or Into Darkness, so I'd guess that's what they were refering to
The B5 ep you're referring to is 'And now for a Word...', Season 2.
I'm pretty sure it was Season 5, as it revealed that Sheridan had been married to Lockley years before...
It must have been 'Sleeping in Light', the finale, then. The ending of that episode was formatted like a documentary.
A normie goes "Oh, what's this?"
An otaku goes "UwU, what's this?"
A furry goes "OwO, what's this?"
A werewolf goes "Awoo, what's this?"
"It's nothing personal, I just don't feel like I've gotten to know a person until I've sniffed their crotch." "We said 'no' to Mr. Curiosity. We're not home. Curiosity is not welcome, it is not to be invited in. Curiosity...is bad. It gets you in trouble, it gets you killed, and more importantly...it makes you poor!"
Passion and Serenity are one.
I gain power by understanding both.
In the chaos of their battle, I bring order.
I am a shadow, darkness born from light.
The Force is united within me.
Prelude is the only thing that we can actually compare to and that is what mostly I hear Pro-Axanar fans refer to as the "true" Trek.
I'm not quite sure how you mean about it being the only thing we can compare it to That it was presented ina documentary-style, I agree, that was pretty unique wait, no it wasn't, there was an episode of Babylon 5 (possibly the last episode, I forget) which also had a NewsCast style... Anyhoo, that aside, the uniforms were reminiscent of those worn in The Cage, and the ships, while JJTrek hulls, had TOS re-skins, so that's certainly comparable. What I'd say with regards True Trek, is that while there was indeed a battle going on, the focus was about the combatants taking part, and the political landscape surrounding them, it wasn't just the thoughtless PewPewLENSFLAREPewPew of 09 or Into Darkness, so I'd guess that's what they were refering to
The B5 ep you're referring to is 'And now for a Word...', Season 2.
I'm pretty sure it was Season 5, as it revealed that Sheridan had been married to Lockley years before...
It must have been 'Sleeping in Light', the finale, then. The ending of that episode was formatted like a documentary.
Not sure if mentioned yet, but DS9 did a few eps with doc style weaved in; the one where Worf was on trial, and the one where Bashir was being investigated by Starfleet version Sloan.
Apparently CBS/Paramount were willing to forgo the legalese stuff if Peter's would agree to an off-the-books settlement.
But then Mr. Peters had his lawyers file a Counter-suit toward CBS/Paramount and that pretty much meant things have to be settled in court now.
Can you say, I D I O T ??
smh
When did this happen? In every discussion I've heard about, CBS had no interest in settlements of any kind.
One also must look at Fair Use when discussing Copyrights, and the fact that a Copyright holder must actively protect his license. Under Fair Use, when a copyright holder allows certain infringements by others to go unchallenged, he can be assumed to have 'allowed' these infractions, and a reasonable person can expect similar treatment for his work.
Over the last 50 years, the Trek franchise has been flooded with fan generated products of all sorts, and Copyright Protections have only been invoked in cases where the product was then sold. Profit-free works were not touched. Donation solicitations have been allowed. Construction of sets, costumes, and props which continue to exist after production has been allowed. Payments to actors, directors, camera crew, and other professional and semi professional persons involved in creating such products has been allowed.
Mr. Peters did nothing that many others had not already done. So, what changed?
Technology.
First, the tech to do in hours on a computer what once required months of effort by teams of artists. What today's CGI programs can do on a laptop makes the special effects of TOS look like crayon drawings on Grandma's fridge. A skilled amateur can do wonderful stuff that only a decade ago was possible only in the realm of ambitious multi-million dollar studios.
Second, the development of crowd funding. Once upon a time artists sought patrons to fund their work. With crowd funding the patrons no longer control the artist: she can simply create a website and an Indigogo account and create whatever she desires. Instead of one patron, (the studio,) the artist has many, (her fans.) This places well funded artists outside the control of the big players who discovered with the production of Renegades that they are behind the curve.
With Prelude To Axenar, CBS got proof that mega-millions are not required to create 'good' products, and proof that the fan base is willing to fund such products.
Mr. Peters did nothing that others in the past have not but, due to timing, caught the first big wave from crowd funding. (Renegades paved the way with 600k in donations, setting up the field for Axenar.) Studio execs had to wake up to the fact that Renegades was not a fluke, and to the fact that they had already abdicated control of their IP to its fans.
The actions of CBS have been the equivalent of trying to get their horses back into a burning barn. In my opinion, it is a futile effort. Fans will continue to create and share their fanfic, and as technology improves, the gap between what the fans do and what the pros do will continue to narrow.
You can hate Mr. Peters if you want. In my experience, very successful people don't care what you think of them anyway. But what happened was not his fault. It was the result of 50 years of benign neglect initiated by Mr. Roddenberry. When the technology allowed small budget films to compete with blockbusters, the big budget studios panicked. Mr. Peters was simply the man left standing when the music stopped.
Apparently CBS/Paramount were willing to forgo the legalese stuff if Peter's would agree to an off-the-books settlement.
But then Mr. Peters had his lawyers file a Counter-suit toward CBS/Paramount and that pretty much meant things have to be settled in court now.
Can you say, I D I O T ??
smh
When did this happen? In every discussion I've heard about, CBS had no interest in settlements of any kind.
One also must look at Fair Use when discussing Copyrights, and the fact that a Copyright holder must actively protect his license. Under Fair Use, when a copyright holder allows certain infringements by others to go unchallenged, he can be assumed to have 'allowed' these infractions, and a reasonable person can expect similar treatment for his work.
Over the last 50 years, the Trek franchise has been flooded with fan generated products of all sorts, and Copyright Protections have only been invoked in cases where the product was then sold. Profit-free works were not touched. Donation solicitations have been allowed. Construction of sets, costumes, and props which continue to exist after production has been allowed. Payments to actors, directors, camera crew, and other professional and semi professional persons involved in creating such products has been allowed.
Mr. Peters did nothing that many others had not already done. So, what changed?
Technology.
First, the tech to do in hours on a computer what once required months of effort by teams of artists. What today's CGI programs can do on a laptop makes the special effects of TOS look like crayon drawings on Grandma's fridge. A skilled amateur can do wonderful stuff that only a decade ago was possible only in the realm of ambitious multi-million dollar studios.
Second, the development of crowd funding. Once upon a time artists sought patrons to fund their work. With crowd funding the patrons no longer control the artist: she can simply create a website and an Indigogo account and create whatever she desires. Instead of one patron, (the studio,) the artist has many, (her fans.) This places well funded artists outside the control of the big players who discovered with the production of Renegades that they are behind the curve.
With Prelude To Axenar, CBS got proof that mega-millions are not required to create 'good' products, and proof that the fan base is willing to fund such products.
Mr. Peters did nothing that others in the past have not but, due to timing, caught the first big wave from crowd funding. (Renegades paved the way with 600k in donations, setting up the field for Axenar.) Studio execs had to wake up to the fact that Renegades was not a fluke, and to the fact that they had already abdicated control of their IP to its fans.
The actions of CBS have been the equivalent of trying to get their horses back into a burning barn. In my opinion, it is a futile effort. Fans will continue to create and share their fanfic, and as technology improves, the gap between what the fans do and what the pros do will continue to narrow.
You can hate Mr. Peters if you want. In my experience, very successful people don't care what you think of them anyway. But what happened was not his fault. It was the result of 50 years of benign neglect initiated by Mr. Roddenberry. When the technology allowed small budget films to compete with blockbusters, the big budget studios panicked. Mr. Peters was simply the man left standing when the music stopped.
Peters was selling merchandise (not donation perks, actual merchandise) with Star Trek trademarks and was using Axanar, by his own admission, to fund a private studio for for-profit productions. This means he was making money off of CBS/Paramount's IP, which is directly against Fair Use laws. No other fan production has done that. No other fan production has used donations to fund a for-profit organisation (which Ares Studios was) in order to produce a Star Trek fan film, whether that fan film was with free distribution or not.
In the case of Renegades, they did not get 600k for a single production though. Also they actually produced stuff.
Peters is the "fall guy" because he did not actually attempt to make a fan-film. Renegades used the funding for what it was meant to be used for Peters did not. Over a year after he started collecting money he didn't even have a script....
In the case of Renegades, they did not get 600k for a single production though. Also they actually produced stuff.
Peters is the "fall guy" because he did not actually attempt to make a fan-film. Renegades used the funding for what it was meant to be used for Peters did not. Over a year after he started collecting money he didn't even have a script....
I find this highly dubious. Right before CBS announced legal action, Peters revealed a scene on Vulcan from Axanar, fully-acted and scripted. Later, he claims that there is no script and no content from the film. The scene he'd released vanished except for a few people who downloaded it and reup'ed it to YouTube.
In short, Peters' lawyer's claims he 'had no script' sounds like a white-faced lie to try and cover his tracks. They also claimed they hadn't even started filming, despite having released a complete scene. It looks as though Team Axanar deliberately removed and 'lost' the footage, and the script, to cloud the legal evidence against them. (Which is not only morally dubious, it's attempting to mislead the court, which is an obstruction of justice and illegal).
In the case of Renegades, they did not get 600k for a single production though. Also they actually produced stuff.
Peters is the "fall guy" because he did not actually attempt to make a fan-film. Renegades used the funding for what it was meant to be used for Peters did not. Over a year after he started collecting money he didn't even have a script....
I find this highly dubious. Right before CBS announced legal action, Peters revealed a scene on Vulcan from Axanar, fully-acted and scripted. Later, he claims that there is no script and no content from the film. The scene he'd released vanished except for a few people who downloaded it and reup'ed it to YouTube.
In short, Peters' lawyer's claims he 'had no script' sounds like a white-faced lie to try and cover his tracks. They also claimed they hadn't even started filming, despite having released a complete scene. It looks as though Team Axanar deliberately removed and 'lost' the footage, and the script, to cloud the legal evidence against them. (Which is not only morally dubious, it's attempting to mislead the court, which is an obstruction of justice and illegal).
I dunno. The "no script" thing matches what the various people who used to be part of the production cited as reasons why they left. You can write a scene without having the rest of the movie written. Also, Peters did not, to my knowledge, claim he had not written a script. The no script thing comes from the judge wanting to see it and Peters being unable to produce it. Peters actually credited himself as the scriptwriter.
There was big talk about a settlement after JJ & Justin Lin (ST Beyond director) claimed to have convinced CBS/Paramount to drop the suit. CBS/Paramount confirmed they were starting settlement talks, Peters confirmed as well. Then his people decided days later to counter sue which resulted in CBS/Paramount ending settlement talks & stating publicly that they will now go to trial. He had 1 ray of sunshine & hope that he would "win" in some way & he **** all over it.
According to Mr. Peters, the "settlement" offered was to not make his movie and CBS would drop the suit. The Vulcan scene was removed by Axanar as the first step in compliance with CBS/Paramount's request. There was never any offer by CBS to allow production of the movie in any form, therefore Mr. Peters could not have rejected any such offer.
The timing is also off. The countersuit was filed last winter, and Mr. Lin announced the lawsuit would 'go away' last summer. The countersuit was not the cause of CBS's decision, but was a defense against the original complaint by CBS, and it was filed long before Mr. Lin and Mr. Abrams became involved.
As for a script, Mr. Takei reported that he had read it in his blog, (which report lead to a massive infusion of donations to Axanar's Kickstarter campaign.) Judges tend to not be stupid, and lying to a judge is a sure way to assure summary judgement against the liar. If Mr. Peters claims he does not have a script when Sulu said he read it, Mr. Peters is risking not only the case, but is opening himself up to criminal charges, beginning with obstructing justice and contempt of court. As a lawyer, Mr. Peters is aware of this, and smart enough to avoid it.
I understand there are people out there who are ready to blame Axanar for the whole mess. Axanar did nothing that many others did not do before them. The problem lies in 50 years of tacit approval of fan works by the IP holders followed by a massive overreaction when it was discovered that amateurs are now able to compete in the big leagues.
There was big talk about a settlement after JJ & Justin Lin (ST Beyond director) claimed to have convinced CBS/Paramount to drop the suit. CBS/Paramount confirmed they were starting settlement talks, Peters confirmed as well. Then his people decided days later to counter sue which resulted in CBS/Paramount ending settlement talks & stating publicly that they will now go to trial. He had 1 ray of sunshine & hope that he would "win" in some way & he **** all over it.
According to Mr. Peters, the "settlement" offered was to not make his movie and CBS would drop the suit. The Vulcan scene was removed by Axanar as the first step in compliance with CBS/Paramount's request. There was never any offer by CBS to allow production of the movie in any form, therefore Mr. Peters could not have rejected any such offer.
The timing is also off. The countersuit was filed last winter, and Mr. Lin announced the lawsuit would 'go away' last summer. The countersuit was not the cause of CBS's decision, but was a defense against the original complaint by CBS, and it was filed long before Mr. Lin and Mr. Abrams became involved.
As for a script, Mr. Takei reported that he had read it in his blog, (which report lead to a massive infusion of donations to Axanar's Kickstarter campaign.) Judges tend to not be stupid, and lying to a judge is a sure way to assure summary judgement against the liar. If Mr. Peters claims he does not have a script when Sulu said he read it, Mr. Peters is risking not only the case, but is opening himself up to criminal charges, beginning with obstructing justice and contempt of court. As a lawyer, Mr. Peters is aware of this, and smart enough to avoid it.
I understand there are people out there who are ready to blame Axanar for the whole mess. Axanar did nothing that many others did not do before them. The problem lies in 50 years of tacit approval of fan works by the IP holders followed by a massive overreaction when it was discovered that amateurs are now able to compete in the big leagues.
Axanar People went way beyond a scope of a fan film. After Prelude, Peters and Burnett were touting Axanar as an Independent Film, rather than a fan film. They had a whole merchandise plan similar to what Star Wars does, this included many tie-in novels (there is another author who came out and said that Peters tried to get him to break his contracts with Simon & Schuster to write one of the novels), Models where Peters tried to copyright and sent his own cease and desist letters to fans who built their own Axanar-themed model kits, ship patches (where people who bought them off of the site were given their orders while people who donated for the perks havent received anything yet minus a very few select, selling the official Axanar soundtrack, selling Axanar coffee, and building a for-profit Studio in order (in their own words) producing and renting out to other productions, and of course giving himself along with a select few others salaries. Yes, they did have a "locked in" script due to them tweeting the TRIBBLE out of it when it was first locked in.
I have nothing against fan films nor them having donation perks, but what Axanar went over the line. Peters' actions and what he has said really put me off against anything that man will ever put out. It wasn't about Axanar being better (it wasn't, in fact the majority of Prelude's action scenes were nothing special and just re-used KT ships). On TrekBBS, someone got a hold of the un-locked in script and it was not that great, not terrible.
Since I first learned of Axanar about a year ago I have followed the project, (not as a donor, I haven't donated to any fan film project,) and I never saw any offer to purchase merchandise, though I did see many items offered as 'perks' for donors. As for copyrights, Mr. Peters is entitled to copyright any original works and protect the rights to use his work. The Ares design is his, in the same way that other people have claims on certain ships used, and precluded from use, in STO.
I was not everywhere and may well have missed such offers, but it was not mentioned in the original complaint that merchandising was any part of the suit. (I did plough through that document, which mentioned numerous copyright violations in a film which Peters asserted did not yet exist. (FILM didn't exist, not script.) Merchandising was certainly mentioned in the 'Guidelines' posted on the CBS website, but not in the original complaint.
Scope is not an issue for the claim either. Renegades had every intention to produce more episodes. Exeter created a whole series, as did Hidden Frontier, which not only produced over 50 episodes, but spawned two spinoff series as well.
Use of copyrighted elements is also a non-issue, given the use of not only the original set and prop designs, but of the actual characters from TOS in projects such as Second Phase and Continues.
So, instead of going to the fan-sites and conspiracy forums, I went to the CBS website, where the reasoning for the suit and guidelines were posted. Those reasons have nothing at all to do with Axanar, but do cite the availability for fan films to acquire the funding and technology to produce films of such quality that they can compete with the officially licensed product. That is why CBS did what it did, according to CBS.
You should check your facts & stop listening to Peters's PR. The news about the counter- suit literally broke days after JJ & Justin announced at the Beyond fan event on May 20th that they had talked CBS & Paramount to drop the suit & less than 48 hours after CBS confirmed settlement talks.
Oh, I don't really care that their condition was he not make the film, there is very little evidence that he ever intended to make it to begin with.
Facts:
From the time I became aware of Axanar, it was stated on numerous occasions that shooting would begin in Jan. 2016. The lawsuit was filed by CBS before New Year's Day of 2016. The Vulcan Scene was shot early both as a project teaser and because there was enthusiasm on the part of the project participants to get the ball rolling. Since the lawsuit came before shooting was scheduled to begin, it is disingenuous to claim that lack of filming indicates lack of intent to film.
The countersuit came within weeks of the original complaint, many months before JJ & Justin became involved. But please feel free to fact check for yourself.
Well, LFIM (Peters) met with CBS roughly a month after the Vulcan scene was released and there was hints about legal action following the meeting. The countersuit was filed a few days after JJ/Justin announced the let's all be friends on May 23rd.
The reasoning behind the suit is the same as the reasoning behind any copyright suit, money. Nobody in their right mind is going to get ruffled by a bunch of nerds in costumes doing theater, unless they are making money off of it. Axanar was dipping into CBS's cookie jar and got caught, plain and simple. It doesn't matter if they were the first and it doesn't matter if others got away with it in the past. CBS and Paramount own the copyrights and trademarks for Star Trek and that is all that counts in court.
Axanar might not have been the first fan production to ignore the laws by conducting themselves as a for profit endeavor by paying themselves or selling merchandise perks, but they were doing it on a monetary scale that nobody had seen before. Just because they were collecting all the profits in advance doesn't somehow make the film a non-profit project. I'm sorry to say, saying that other people got away with the same crime isn't going to go very far in court.
You should check your facts & stop listening to Peters's PR. The news about the counter- suit literally broke days after JJ & Justin announced at the Beyond fan event on May 20th that they had talked CBS & Paramount to drop the suit & less than 48 hours after CBS confirmed settlement talks.
Oh, I don't really care that their condition was he not make the film, there is very little evidence that he ever intended to make it to begin with.
In fact, most of the people who made Prelude LEFT because he was dragging his heels and not working on the project.
You should check your facts & stop listening to Peters's PR. The news about the counter- suit literally broke days after JJ & Justin announced at the Beyond fan event on May 20th that they had talked CBS & Paramount to drop the suit & less than 48 hours after CBS confirmed settlement talks.
Oh, I don't really care that their condition was he not make the film, there is very little evidence that he ever intended to make it to begin with.
In fact, most of the people who made Prelude LEFT because he was dragging his heels and not working on the project.
I thought that most of them left, because Alec Peters invariably did something to upset them (generally through some kind of unacceptable treatment...)
You should check your facts & stop listening to Peters's PR. The news about the counter- suit literally broke days after JJ & Justin announced at the Beyond fan event on May 20th that they had talked CBS & Paramount to drop the suit & less than 48 hours after CBS confirmed settlement talks.
Oh, I don't really care that their condition was he not make the film, there is very little evidence that he ever intended to make it to begin with.
In fact, most of the people who made Prelude LEFT because he was dragging his heels and not working on the project.
I thought that most of them left, because Alec Peters invariably did something to upset them (generally through some kind of unacceptable treatment...)
Maybe both are equally true and merely different views of the same events?
You should check your facts & stop listening to Peters's PR. The news about the counter- suit literally broke days after JJ & Justin announced at the Beyond fan event on May 20th that they had talked CBS & Paramount to drop the suit & less than 48 hours after CBS confirmed settlement talks.
Oh, I don't really care that their condition was he not make the film, there is very little evidence that he ever intended to make it to begin with.
In fact, most of the people who made Prelude LEFT because he was dragging his heels and not working on the project.
I thought that most of them left, because Alec Peters invariably did something to upset them (generally through some kind of unacceptable treatment...)
Maybe both are equally true and merely different views of the same events?
I really wouldn't like to say... I forget the name of the guy who did Star Trek Horizon, but I've read that Alec Peters teated him pretty appallingly, and a few other folks have said similar things... Of course, I guess a few folks could have got tired of delays and abandoned the project, but I think most, have horror stories to tell...
JJ and Lin said the suit would go away, not that settlement talks were coming. No settlement talks were ever offered. This is not a case of Axanar rejecting an offer: JJ & Lin didn't make one and neither did CBS.
JJ and Lin said the suit would go away, not that settlement talks were coming. No settlement talks were ever offered. This is not a case of Axanar rejecting an offer: JJ & Lin didn't make one and neither did CBS.
As part of the conditions for hearing the case, the Court of California insisted that both sides hold settlement talks before a trial (fairly standard procedure). Axanar counter-sued literally days before this process was supposed to start, making it legally impossible for CBS/Paramount to drop the case or settle. In other words, the fact there were no settlement talks was Peters' fault, not CBS/Paramount's.
You should check your facts & stop listening to Peters's PR. The news about the counter- suit literally broke days after JJ & Justin announced at the Beyond fan event on May 20th that they had talked CBS & Paramount to drop the suit & less than 48 hours after CBS confirmed settlement talks.
Oh, I don't really care that their condition was he not make the film, there is very little evidence that he ever intended to make it to begin with.
In fact, most of the people who made Prelude LEFT because he was dragging his heels and not working on the project.
I thought that most of them left, because Alec Peters invariably did something to upset them (generally through some kind of unacceptable treatment...)
Maybe both are equally true and merely different views of the same events?
I really wouldn't like to say... I forget the name of the guy who did Star Trek Horizon, but I've read that Alec Peters teated him pretty appallingly, and a few other folks have said similar things... Of course, I guess a few folks could have got tired of delays and abandoned the project, but I think most, have horror stories to tell...
what I'm saying is that I think he may have treated them like that because they wanted to get on with production and not just sit around raising money.
You should check your facts & stop listening to Peters's PR. The news about the counter- suit literally broke days after JJ & Justin announced at the Beyond fan event on May 20th that they had talked CBS & Paramount to drop the suit & less than 48 hours after CBS confirmed settlement talks.
Oh, I don't really care that their condition was he not make the film, there is very little evidence that he ever intended to make it to begin with.
In fact, most of the people who made Prelude LEFT because he was dragging his heels and not working on the project.
I thought that most of them left, because Alec Peters invariably did something to upset them (generally through some kind of unacceptable treatment...)
Maybe both are equally true and merely different views of the same events?
I really wouldn't like to say... I forget the name of the guy who did Star Trek Horizon, but I've read that Alec Peters teated him pretty appallingly, and a few other folks have said similar things... Of course, I guess a few folks could have got tired of delays and abandoned the project, but I think most, have horror stories to tell...
what I'm saying is that I think he may have treated them like that because they wanted to get on with production and not just sit around raising money.
Apparently, Tony Todd left because Peters was such a horrible actor and Gossett (Prelude's director) left because of "creative differences". Sean Tourngeau (Designer of STO's Titan) one of the artists on the group left because of how Peters treated the others.
Notice how brian here hasn't had the testicular fortitude to admit he was wrong when presented with the evidence that in fact the counter- suit was NOT files months before the talk by JJ of a settlement/dropping tge lawsuit.
Oh, I admit the countersuit came after JJ & Lin made their announcement. I was thinking about the numerous court filings by Axanar from last winter, but technically I was incorrect because the actual filing of the countersuit was the issue at hand.
What I dispute was the fact that CBS ever held, or intended to hold, settlement talks. The CBS lawyers told JJ and Lin the lawsuit would go away, then issued guidelines which insure fan films and series such as have already been published would no longer be made. That was how they intended it to go away.
There were never settlement talks for Peters to sabotage, neither offered nor intended. JJ and Lin had no authority to make such talks possible, and they never said that such talks were going to happen. They were given the words to say so they could shut up a vocal crowd that was casting a shadow on their movie debut.
But defending oneself from a lawsuit is a difficult thing. There are steps which must be taken on time, or you forfeit the opportunity to do so later. Had Axanar not filed, there could be consequences. Should Axanar forgo it's own legal defense to wait on promises made by people who have no authority to do anything about It? I'm sure you are wise and knowledgeable enough to make that call, but I'd have to follow the advice of my lawyer. And I'm certain that's what his lawyers told Mr. Peters.
Comments
I'm pretty sure it was Season 5, as it revealed that Sheridan had been married to Lockley years before...
It must have been 'Sleeping in Light', the finale, then. The ending of that episode was formatted like a documentary.
Trials of Blood and Fire
Moving On Parts 1-3 - Part 4
In Cold Blood
#LegalizeAwoo
A normie goes "Oh, what's this?"
An otaku goes "UwU, what's this?"
A furry goes "OwO, what's this?"
A werewolf goes "Awoo, what's this?"
"It's nothing personal, I just don't feel like I've gotten to know a person until I've sniffed their crotch."
"We said 'no' to Mr. Curiosity. We're not home. Curiosity is not welcome, it is not to be invited in. Curiosity...is bad. It gets you in trouble, it gets you killed, and more importantly...it makes you poor!"
When did this happen? In every discussion I've heard about, CBS had no interest in settlements of any kind.
One also must look at Fair Use when discussing Copyrights, and the fact that a Copyright holder must actively protect his license. Under Fair Use, when a copyright holder allows certain infringements by others to go unchallenged, he can be assumed to have 'allowed' these infractions, and a reasonable person can expect similar treatment for his work.
Over the last 50 years, the Trek franchise has been flooded with fan generated products of all sorts, and Copyright Protections have only been invoked in cases where the product was then sold. Profit-free works were not touched. Donation solicitations have been allowed. Construction of sets, costumes, and props which continue to exist after production has been allowed. Payments to actors, directors, camera crew, and other professional and semi professional persons involved in creating such products has been allowed.
Mr. Peters did nothing that many others had not already done. So, what changed?
Technology.
First, the tech to do in hours on a computer what once required months of effort by teams of artists. What today's CGI programs can do on a laptop makes the special effects of TOS look like crayon drawings on Grandma's fridge. A skilled amateur can do wonderful stuff that only a decade ago was possible only in the realm of ambitious multi-million dollar studios.
Second, the development of crowd funding. Once upon a time artists sought patrons to fund their work. With crowd funding the patrons no longer control the artist: she can simply create a website and an Indigogo account and create whatever she desires. Instead of one patron, (the studio,) the artist has many, (her fans.) This places well funded artists outside the control of the big players who discovered with the production of Renegades that they are behind the curve.
With Prelude To Axenar, CBS got proof that mega-millions are not required to create 'good' products, and proof that the fan base is willing to fund such products.
Mr. Peters did nothing that others in the past have not but, due to timing, caught the first big wave from crowd funding. (Renegades paved the way with 600k in donations, setting up the field for Axenar.) Studio execs had to wake up to the fact that Renegades was not a fluke, and to the fact that they had already abdicated control of their IP to its fans.
The actions of CBS have been the equivalent of trying to get their horses back into a burning barn. In my opinion, it is a futile effort. Fans will continue to create and share their fanfic, and as technology improves, the gap between what the fans do and what the pros do will continue to narrow.
You can hate Mr. Peters if you want. In my experience, very successful people don't care what you think of them anyway. But what happened was not his fault. It was the result of 50 years of benign neglect initiated by Mr. Roddenberry. When the technology allowed small budget films to compete with blockbusters, the big budget studios panicked. Mr. Peters was simply the man left standing when the music stopped.
Peters was selling merchandise (not donation perks, actual merchandise) with Star Trek trademarks and was using Axanar, by his own admission, to fund a private studio for for-profit productions. This means he was making money off of CBS/Paramount's IP, which is directly against Fair Use laws. No other fan production has done that. No other fan production has used donations to fund a for-profit organisation (which Ares Studios was) in order to produce a Star Trek fan film, whether that fan film was with free distribution or not.
Trials of Blood and Fire
Moving On Parts 1-3 - Part 4
In Cold Blood
Peters is the "fall guy" because he did not actually attempt to make a fan-film. Renegades used the funding for what it was meant to be used for Peters did not. Over a year after he started collecting money he didn't even have a script....
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I find this highly dubious. Right before CBS announced legal action, Peters revealed a scene on Vulcan from Axanar, fully-acted and scripted. Later, he claims that there is no script and no content from the film. The scene he'd released vanished except for a few people who downloaded it and reup'ed it to YouTube.
In short, Peters' lawyer's claims he 'had no script' sounds like a white-faced lie to try and cover his tracks. They also claimed they hadn't even started filming, despite having released a complete scene. It looks as though Team Axanar deliberately removed and 'lost' the footage, and the script, to cloud the legal evidence against them. (Which is not only morally dubious, it's attempting to mislead the court, which is an obstruction of justice and illegal).
Trials of Blood and Fire
Moving On Parts 1-3 - Part 4
In Cold Blood
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They've collected lots of stuff there.
My character Tsin'xing
According to Mr. Peters, the "settlement" offered was to not make his movie and CBS would drop the suit. The Vulcan scene was removed by Axanar as the first step in compliance with CBS/Paramount's request. There was never any offer by CBS to allow production of the movie in any form, therefore Mr. Peters could not have rejected any such offer.
The timing is also off. The countersuit was filed last winter, and Mr. Lin announced the lawsuit would 'go away' last summer. The countersuit was not the cause of CBS's decision, but was a defense against the original complaint by CBS, and it was filed long before Mr. Lin and Mr. Abrams became involved.
As for a script, Mr. Takei reported that he had read it in his blog, (which report lead to a massive infusion of donations to Axanar's Kickstarter campaign.) Judges tend to not be stupid, and lying to a judge is a sure way to assure summary judgement against the liar. If Mr. Peters claims he does not have a script when Sulu said he read it, Mr. Peters is risking not only the case, but is opening himself up to criminal charges, beginning with obstructing justice and contempt of court. As a lawyer, Mr. Peters is aware of this, and smart enough to avoid it.
I understand there are people out there who are ready to blame Axanar for the whole mess. Axanar did nothing that many others did not do before them. The problem lies in 50 years of tacit approval of fan works by the IP holders followed by a massive overreaction when it was discovered that amateurs are now able to compete in the big leagues.
Axanar People went way beyond a scope of a fan film. After Prelude, Peters and Burnett were touting Axanar as an Independent Film, rather than a fan film. They had a whole merchandise plan similar to what Star Wars does, this included many tie-in novels (there is another author who came out and said that Peters tried to get him to break his contracts with Simon & Schuster to write one of the novels), Models where Peters tried to copyright and sent his own cease and desist letters to fans who built their own Axanar-themed model kits, ship patches (where people who bought them off of the site were given their orders while people who donated for the perks havent received anything yet minus a very few select, selling the official Axanar soundtrack, selling Axanar coffee, and building a for-profit Studio in order (in their own words) producing and renting out to other productions, and of course giving himself along with a select few others salaries. Yes, they did have a "locked in" script due to them tweeting the TRIBBLE out of it when it was first locked in.
I have nothing against fan films nor them having donation perks, but what Axanar went over the line. Peters' actions and what he has said really put me off against anything that man will ever put out. It wasn't about Axanar being better (it wasn't, in fact the majority of Prelude's action scenes were nothing special and just re-used KT ships). On TrekBBS, someone got a hold of the un-locked in script and it was not that great, not terrible.
I was not everywhere and may well have missed such offers, but it was not mentioned in the original complaint that merchandising was any part of the suit. (I did plough through that document, which mentioned numerous copyright violations in a film which Peters asserted did not yet exist. (FILM didn't exist, not script.) Merchandising was certainly mentioned in the 'Guidelines' posted on the CBS website, but not in the original complaint.
Scope is not an issue for the claim either. Renegades had every intention to produce more episodes. Exeter created a whole series, as did Hidden Frontier, which not only produced over 50 episodes, but spawned two spinoff series as well.
Use of copyrighted elements is also a non-issue, given the use of not only the original set and prop designs, but of the actual characters from TOS in projects such as Second Phase and Continues.
So, instead of going to the fan-sites and conspiracy forums, I went to the CBS website, where the reasoning for the suit and guidelines were posted. Those reasons have nothing at all to do with Axanar, but do cite the availability for fan films to acquire the funding and technology to produce films of such quality that they can compete with the officially licensed product. That is why CBS did what it did, according to CBS.
Facts:
From the time I became aware of Axanar, it was stated on numerous occasions that shooting would begin in Jan. 2016. The lawsuit was filed by CBS before New Year's Day of 2016. The Vulcan Scene was shot early both as a project teaser and because there was enthusiasm on the part of the project participants to get the ball rolling. Since the lawsuit came before shooting was scheduled to begin, it is disingenuous to claim that lack of filming indicates lack of intent to film.
The countersuit came within weeks of the original complaint, many months before JJ & Justin became involved. But please feel free to fact check for yourself.
Axanar might not have been the first fan production to ignore the laws by conducting themselves as a for profit endeavor by paying themselves or selling merchandise perks, but they were doing it on a monetary scale that nobody had seen before. Just because they were collecting all the profits in advance doesn't somehow make the film a non-profit project. I'm sorry to say, saying that other people got away with the same crime isn't going to go very far in court.
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As part of the conditions for hearing the case, the Court of California insisted that both sides hold settlement talks before a trial (fairly standard procedure). Axanar counter-sued literally days before this process was supposed to start, making it legally impossible for CBS/Paramount to drop the case or settle. In other words, the fact there were no settlement talks was Peters' fault, not CBS/Paramount's.
Trials of Blood and Fire
Moving On Parts 1-3 - Part 4
In Cold Blood
My character Tsin'xing
Apparently, Tony Todd left because Peters was such a horrible actor and Gossett (Prelude's director) left because of "creative differences". Sean Tourngeau (Designer of STO's Titan) one of the artists on the group left because of how Peters treated the others.
Oh, I admit the countersuit came after JJ & Lin made their announcement. I was thinking about the numerous court filings by Axanar from last winter, but technically I was incorrect because the actual filing of the countersuit was the issue at hand.
What I dispute was the fact that CBS ever held, or intended to hold, settlement talks. The CBS lawyers told JJ and Lin the lawsuit would go away, then issued guidelines which insure fan films and series such as have already been published would no longer be made. That was how they intended it to go away.
There were never settlement talks for Peters to sabotage, neither offered nor intended. JJ and Lin had no authority to make such talks possible, and they never said that such talks were going to happen. They were given the words to say so they could shut up a vocal crowd that was casting a shadow on their movie debut.
But defending oneself from a lawsuit is a difficult thing. There are steps which must be taken on time, or you forfeit the opportunity to do so later. Had Axanar not filed, there could be consequences. Should Axanar forgo it's own legal defense to wait on promises made by people who have no authority to do anything about It? I'm sure you are wise and knowledgeable enough to make that call, but I'd have to follow the advice of my lawyer. And I'm certain that's what his lawyers told Mr. Peters.