Personal Stories – Page 9 – Fan Film Factor

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

Ever 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!

You 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!

When 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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CONFIRMED! AXANAR defense team will file a MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGEMENT later today!

Well, it looks like there isn’t a settlement yet in the AXANAR copyright infringement lawsuit. And how do I know this? Because I now have confirmation that the defense will be filing a motion for summary judgment with Judge Klausner of the Ninth Circuit Federal Court later on today. (I don’t yet know if the plaintiffs are planning to do likewise, but if a settlement hasn’t been reached, then it’s a pretty sure bet.)

And how did I get confirmation that the defense will be filing their motion later today? Because yesterday evening I was asked to sign this declaration:

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All those pesky FFF.TREKBLOGGERS.COM links are finally GONE (I hope)!

I’m a designer, not a programmer, dammit! Well, I’m also a writer and a usability specialist…but coding? That stuff is HARD, man!

You might remember that, a couple of weeks ago, I announced that FAN FILM FACTOR was no longer living as a sub-domain at fff.trekbloggers.com. We had migrated this entire blog site–all TWO HUNDRED blog entries plus graphic files, videos, PDFs, etc.–onto my own domain server at fanfilmfactor.com. And there was much rejoicing.

Until something bad–something very bad–happened…

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FAN FILM FACTOR is now the master of its DOMAIN!

Some of you may know the not-so-secret origin of FAN FILM FACTOR. Back in 2015, I was writing a regular weekly blog for the Axanar website called “Fan Film Friday,” and it was becoming quite popular. Shortly after the infringement lawsuit was filed, however, a couple of my interviewees requested not to appear on the Axanar website. Other fan filmmakers were fine with being featured on the Axanar site, but I lamented the fact that I would no longer be free to feature all the fan producers that I wanted to.

I mentioned this concern to Alec Peters, and he suggested that I create a separate blog site independent of Axanar. That way I could talk about anything I wanted…and arrange my content any way I wanted. “But I have no idea how to set up a blog site,” I told Alec. “Oh, don’t worry about that,” he said, “Mike Bawden can do it for you.”

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No use crying over spilled water – FFF down for a few days

Late on Thursday night, I accidentally spilled water all over my keyboard. As you can probably guess, this was not appreciated by my computer all that much, and I won’t see the trusty ol’ gal again until late Monday or Tuesday at the earliest…along with a $500 repair bill.

For those commenting on the Friday legal filings in the AXANAR case and the bombshells contained in them–like Paramount not providing ANY emails for discovery or the late news that CBS does, apparently, own Star Trek (oh, well)–yes, I’ve seen all three filings. And I plan to write up a blog on them just as soon as I have a decent keyboard again. I just can’t whip out a 2,000-word article on an iPad keyboard!

In the meantime, I’m researching what I can (what does President Gerald Ford have to do with AXANAR???) and getting ready for our next dive into the legal swimming pool.

SMALL ACCESS founder JONATHAN LANE (me) featured on a controversial episode of the TREKZONE SPOTLIGHT!

It seems I’m kicking up quite a bit of controversy…and not just from CBS and Paramount!

If you’re curious why this interview was “controversial,” read this blog entry from yesterday . During the 45-minute grilling, I address several hard-hitting questions about the SMALL ACCESS campaign and our letter-writing effort to try to convince CBS and Paramount to revise the fan film guidelines and make them less restrictive.

The interview also addresses the confusion and misinformation currently circulating about whether Axanar is behind the SMALL ACCESS campaign…which it is not. While I happily support Axanar and write this fun blog on the Axanar website, I’m way too busy with FAN FILM FACTOR and SMALL ACCESS to run everything past Alec Peters, and he’s way too busy to micromanage me. So we’re two ships in the same fleet fighting the same enemy, but Alec has his battles, and I’ve got mine.

Anyway, here’s the full interview for your viewing pleasure. Let me know what you think…

Jonathan Lane’s TREKZONE interview is already controversial…and it isn’t even out yet!

Now that the SMALL ACCESS campaign has grown to nearly 1,300 members and 85 packets of the Focus Group Report have already been mailed out to CBS and Paramount executives, it’s time to try to spread the word far and wide…or at least try my best to do so.

And thus was I pleasantly surprised and excited to get the following e-mail from Matthew Miller of Trekzone in Australia:

Hi Jonathan, just wondering whether you’d like to join me on a Trekzone Spotlight podcast to discuss Project Small Access?

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Photos from the Las Vegas STAR TREK 50th Anniversary CREATION Con

Here’s all my best photos from the 50th Anniversary convention in Las Vegas (along with clever captions–read ’em; they’re funny!). Click on any photo to enlarge it, then click the “back” button to return to this page…

It’s the 50th anniversary of Star Trek in Vegas, baby!

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