Category: Personal Stories

REMINDER: Jonathan discusses AXANAR and FAN FILMS live Saturday at 2pm Eastern Time (11am Pacific)!

I’l be doing a live interview on the SHANE PLAYS radio program tomorrow (Saturday) at 2pm Eastern Time (that’s 11am Pacific Time for me).  Shane will be talking to me about the AXANAR lawsuit and settlement–was there a clear winner and/or loser?–and about what this all might mean for the future of Star Trek fan films.

The show broadcasts live in the Little Rock area on 96.5 FM the Answer, and people can listen online at http://965fmtheanswer.com.  You can also call in.  The show will be archived afterwards for anyone to listen to who wants to.

Oh, and for anyone who is curious about my computer situation, a new MacBook Pro has been ordered and is now on its way from Brooklyn, NY to Los Angeles, CA (I order most of my expensive gadgets from &B&H Photo). As I feared, the culprit was indeed the logic board on my five and a half year old Mac laptop.  I will miss the 17″ screen (not made anymore), but time marches on.

My old computer will works at ultra-slow speed (it’s taken me 25-minutes to type this blog so far), so Fan Film Factor will likely remain “in hibernation” until mid-to-late next week.  My apologies.

JONATHAN’S computer being fixed

Hey, folks.  My trusty ol’ Macintosh is gettin’ a little too ol’, so while I contemplate spending thousands on a new one (sorry, PC people, I’m never going back to Windows), the current contraption is going into the shop for at least a day or two.

This means a delay on any new blog posts (including my interview with Alec Peters), as well as approving and/or responding to any comments.  As soon as I’m back at full power, I’ll make those two tasks my priority (after my family, of course).

In the meantime, if you’re looking for something to do on an otherwise pleasant Saturday, think about tuning in for my Axanar lawsuit update on the Shane Plays radio broadcast this Saturday at 2pm Eastern (11am Pacific).  The show broadcasts live in the Little Rock area on 96.5 FM the Answer, and people can listen online at http://965fmtheanswer.com.  You can also call in!

TODAY IS JONATHAN’S 50th BIRTHDAY!

Yeah, totally self-indulgent, but it is my blog and my birthday, so please cut me a little slack.

Earlier this morning, I got one of my first birthday wishes e-mailed from a friend of mine in the U.K.  Apparently, in the European style, today’s date would be written as 17/01.  THAT EXPLAINS SO MUCH!!!  (And the embarrassing part: in five decades, I never noticed that before!)

So on my big FIVE-OH birthday (which CBS was nice enough to design a logo for!), I would like to thank my amazing family for putting up with me blogging all the time.  And I want to thank all of you for reading what I write.  Even if you don’t agree with me all the time, it’s still fun to know that I’m not just shouting out into an empty vacuum.

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NEW MOTIONS filed to LIMIT EVIDENCE in the AXANAR LAWSUIT!

Axaanr splash imageJust when you thought you were out, I pull you back in!  Yes, it’s AXANAR lawsuit time again…and I really didn’t expect this part to be quite so significant.  Man, was I wrong!

As you may recall, the next major event in the Axanar case was supposed to be oral arguments for the motions for summary judgment in front of Judge R. Gary Klausner on Monday morning.  But the judge canceled the in-person hearing and will be making his pre-trial rulings based solely on the documents filed by both parties.  (This is not unusual.  I’m told that Judge Klausner usually cancels oral arguments and rules based on filings.)  This means that the judge’s rulings could come at any time…and this lawsuit could possibly even be over before it begins!

But if this case does go to trial on January 31, then yesterday (Friday) was an important deadline.  It was the last chance each side had to challenge evidence and/or witnesses that the other side wants to use in court and present to the jury.  This can potentially be pretty big.  Imagine going into the big game with a few of your best players disqualified and benched.  That could happen if the judge excludes one or more pieces of potentially key or damaging evidence from being used at trial!

The plaintiffs are challenging TEN different items of evidence and potential witnesses (like little ol’ me!) while the defense team is challenging NINE.  I’ve consolidated all those separate motions into two huge PDF documents:

Defense Motions to Exclude

Plaintiff Motions to Exclude

You probably don’t want to read all 140 pages (although there’s some interesting stuff in there!), so I’m gonna help ya out and do a summary…later this week.  Assuming the judge doesn’t end the case before then, I’m gonna need at least a few days to parse through all this!

Except for the motion about me (starting on page 25).  That one I wanna tackle right now because, dammit, it’s my frickin’ blog and I should be allowed a bit of self-indulgent righteous indignation every once in a while!

So let’s take a look at why the plaintiffs don’t want me ruining their case…

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The HISTORY of STAR TREK FAN FILMS…in PDF format!

a-brief-history-of-star-trek-fan-filmsEver since the AXANAR legal  team released my Executive Summary of “The History of Star Trek Fan Films” during the the discovery phase of the lawsuit, readers have been asking me to upload the document here on FAN FILM FACTOR.  And here it is!  Merry Christmas (or Happy Hanukkah).

I had initially written “The History of Star Trek Fan Films” to help out Alec Peters and Axanar.  At the time that the lawsuit was first filed a year ago, I didn’t yet understand the intricacies of the case as I do now…and so I almost immediately confused copyright with trademark.  I was wrong about that, and so my efforts wouldn’t help Alec win the case outright.  But my document would still end up being useful in helping to argue for non-willful infringement if the jury found Alec Peters guilty of infringement.

As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, willful infringement carries a penalty of $150,000 per violation.  Non-willful infringement carries penalties as low as $200 per violation.  So the difference between the two types of infringement in a verdict could literally be millions of dollars!  And how can my document help to prove non-willful infringement?

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The PERFECT stocking stuffer for CHRISTMAS – and SANTA’S even a TREKKIE!

Being Santa Claus - CoverYou can rediscover the magic and wonder of Christmas in the pages of a touching and inspirational book…a book with my name on the cover!

Being Santa Claus is a heartwarming collection of memoirs from one of the world’s most dedicated, professional real-bearded Santas, and it’s the perfect gift to get for someone you love.

And I’m not just saying that because I co-wrote it! Santa Sal is truly one-of-a-kind, and in the pages of this book, you’ll learn why he is one of the most special and amazing Santa Clauses that you will ever read about.

What does any of this have to do with Star Trek fan films? Nothing, really (except that Santa Sal does happen to be a huge Trekkie, which we mention in the acknowledgements at the end). But no, this isn’t a blog post about fan films. However, I hope you’ll indulge me with some holiday goodwill, because I’d like to tell you about my white-bearded friend and the wonderful book we wrote together.

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FAN FILM FACTOR finally features a FACEBOOK page!

header-for-facebookWhen I first started up FAN FILM FACTOR, I didn’t really feel the need to have a Facebook or Twitter or Instagram (or whatever else) presence online.  Simply organizing a blog site, writing articles and interviews, and answering comments is more than enough work, thank you very much!

So why do I suddenly have a Facebook page?  Funny you should ask…

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