We should be FANS, not lawyers

Law and Order - Star TrekJJ Abrams and Justin Lin have every reason to think like lawyers. After all, they make a lot of money from Star Trek, and if there’s a chance something will damage that brand and result in Star Trek making less money, that affects at least part of their livelihood.

So why did Abrams and Lin put pressure on Paramount and CBS to settle and end their lawsuit against Axanar? It’s because these two producers, as fans themselves, know something that all the lawyers involved in this lawsuit (and many of the fans following it) seem to have forgotten: being a fan should be FUN (just change the “a” to a “u”), and when fans have fun, franchises thrive.

Continue reading “We should be FANS, not lawyers”

Judge DENIES the AXANAR motion to dismiss the CBS/PARAMOUNT LAWSUIT!

Axanar logo

As I said yesterday, folks, mark your calendars for January 31, 2017.  Just as CBS gets ready to launch their new Star Trek TV series, the gavel will fall on the judge’s desk to cal to order CBS and Paramount’s lawsuit against Axanar Productions and Alec Peters.  Unless there is a settlement or mediation in the next eight and a half months, the most important case ever for fan films (in many people’s opinions) will be litigated in front of a judge and possibly a jury.

Judge R. Gary Klausner ruled as follows:

Although the Court declines to address whether Plaintiffs’ Claims will prosper at this time, the Court does find Plaintiffs’ claims will live long enough to survive Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss. For the foregoing reasons, the Court DENIES Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss.

According to the Axanar website:

Winston & Strawn will now prepare our answer to the amended complaint, which is due in 14 days.

In the meantime, we continue our efforts to settle this matter  with CBS and Paramount so we can move forward with telling the story of AXANAR in a way that satisfies both the studios and the over ten thousand fans who financially supported our project.

And the (legal) adventure continues…

PARAMOUNT/CBS v. AXANAR lawsuit trial date set!

Axanar logo

Mark your calendars!  The judge in the lawsuit between Paramount/CBS and Axanar has now set a trial date of January 31, 2017.  This is about three and a half months earlier than the litigating parties had mutually recommended to the court.

Judge R. Gary Klausner now has all of the paperwork submitted by the plaintiffs, the defense, and even an amicus brief filed by the Language Creation Society disputing the claim by the plaintiffs that the Klingon language can be copyrighted.  It’s quite an attention-grabbing case!

The judge could rule in the coming weeks on any or all of several motions filed on behalf of Axanar, including the removal of Paramount as a plaintiff, dismissing the part of the lawsuit dealing with the Axanar movie (of which, only one 3-minute scene has actually been completed while the rest of the film remains in stalled pre-production), and even the possibility of dismissing the entire case.

Even if the case continues onward, a LOT can happen between now and next January, including a settlement between the two parties.  If not, then we’ll see everyone in court in less than nine months.

The realities of crowd-funding, part 1

Cover-aGoing against my better judgment (that’s screaming at me, “Jon, stop typing NOW!”), I’m going to jump head first into the latest controversy surrounding a recent comment claiming that Axanar has “poisoned the well” for all other fan films.

Buckle up, folks!

Continue reading “The realities of crowd-funding, part 1”

KLINGONS step up to defend AXANAR in LAWSUIT!

Basic CMYKAnd just when you thought we were done with pre-hearing filings in the Paramount and CBS copyright lawsuit against AXANAR, in come the Klingons!

In what has to be one of the strangest amicus briefs (a “friend of the court” opinion submitted in a case by a party not directly involved) to ever come across U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner’s desk, Marc Randazza of the Language Creation Society has argued that Paramount and CBS’s claim of ownership of the Klingon language should be dismissed because Klingon is, in fact, NOT copyrightable!

Today’s Hollywood Reporter has a very entertaining write-up of this story which actually contains a link to the filing itself.  As far as I’m concerned, this amicus brief is a MUST READ just to enjoy the fact that a serious legal document has been filed in Federal Court that is written partly in KLINGON!

And just to remind everyone, Paramount did produce this hilarious episode of Frasier, “Star Mitzvah,” back in 2002:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9xWYApbd6Y

AXANAR files legal response to CBS/Paramount’s response to AXANAR’s response

Axanar logoIn what is likely the final documentation containing legal arguments to be submitted before the court hearing on May 9, 2016, the attorneys representing Axanar have just filed a Response to Paramount and CBS’s Response to Axanar‘s latest Motion to Dismiss (itself a response to Paramount and CBS’s Amended complaint for copyright infringement).

Although Fan Film Factor is taking a neutral stance regarding this lawsuit, I do have to admit to being fascinated as I read each of these documents.  If one can get past all the legal language and case references scattered throughout, what amazed me most was how thoroughly convinced I was each time I read the arguments of one side or the other.  Just when I thought, “Oh, man, they’ve nailed it!” I would read the response and think, “Okay, well, that convinced me the other way!”

In other words, I’m glad I’m not the judge on this case!  He’ll have to study all the main legal documentation filed in this case so far…

Here is a link to the text of the ORIGINAL lawsuit.

Here is a link to the text of Axanar‘s ORIGINAL response.

Here is a link to the text of the AMENDED lawsuit.

Here is a link to the text of Axanar’s SECOND response.

Here is a link to the analysis of CBS/Paramount’s response to that.

And here is a link to the FINAL response from Axanar.

For a more complete list of media coverage of this story, Axanar has provided this Press Room Page full of links to news reports and editorials regarding the lawsuit.

DON’T PANIC!!! – NEW VOYAGES and AXANAR websites both go offline temporarily

NV and Axanar

Yesterday, fan rumors began furiously flying when two separate fan series websites were suddenly unavailable at the same time!  Was this some new offensive by CBS and Paramount to shut down all fan films???

Stand down from red alert, folks.  It turns out that nothing so earth-shattering happened.  In the case of Axanar‘s website, the glitch appears to have been just that, and the site is back up and running normally.

In the case of Star Trek: New Voyages, the disappearance of their main U.S. website was explained on their international Facebook page:

Continue reading “DON’T PANIC!!! – NEW VOYAGES and AXANAR websites both go offline temporarily”

CBS/Paramount files a RESPONSE to AXANAR’S second motion to dismiss

Axanar logoOn April 11, the attorneys representing Paramount and CBS in their copyright infringement lawsuit against Axanar Productions and Alec Peters filed a Response to the latest documents that were submitted by Axanar‘s attorney’s on March 28, 2016.  Those documents were themselves a Response to the Amended Complaint filed by Paramount and CBS on March 11.

In their Response on March 28, the Axanar attorneys again argued for the case to be dismissed due to Paramount and CBS not meeting certain requirements that would make their complaint valid.  The plaintiffs have now responded to most of the points made by Axanar, meaning the ball is once again in Axanar‘s court (no pun intended).  Should Axanar choose to respond to this response to their response (yeah, I know!), they have two weeks to file.

In the meantime, enjoy the long parade of documentation…

Here is a link to the text of the ORIGINAL lawsuit.

Here is a link to the text of Axanar‘s ORIGINAL response.

Here is a link to the text of the AMENDED lawsuit.

Here is a link to the text of Axanar’s SECOND response.

And finally, I was not able to find a PDF of CBS/Paramount’s most recent Response, but I did find an analysis of their filing by a retired attorney that includes linked graphics of all 26 pages of the Response as well as a Request for Judicial Notice.

Here is a link to the analysis of the LATEST response.

Please note: Fan Film Factor is taking a neutral stance regarding this lawsuit and will simply announce developments as they happen.

For a more complete list of media coverage of this story, Axanar has provided this Press Room Page full of links to news reports and editorials regarding the lawsuit.

AXANAR files legal response to CBS/Paramount Amended Lawsuit

Axanar logoOn March 28, 2016, the legal team for Axanar Productions and Alec Peters, the firm of Winston & Strawn LLP, filed a response to the AMENDED copyright infringement complaint that was brought by Paramount and CBS on March 11, 2015.  The response is Axanar’s second and again seeks a dismissal of the complaint on a number of legal grounds.

The original complaint was brought by Paramount and CBS on December 29, 2015.  Axanar’s legal team filed a response on February 22, 2016 seeking dismissal of the lawsuit on a number of legal grounds.  Presumably, that response is what has motivated Paramount and CBS to amend their complaint.

Here is a link to the text of the ORIGINAL lawsuit.

Here is a link to the text of Axanar‘s ORIGINAL response.

Here is a link to the text of the AMENDED lawsuit.

Here is a link to the text of Axanar’s LATEST response.

Please note: Fan Film Factor is taking a neutral stance regarding this lawsuit and will simply announce developments as they happen.

For a more complete list of media coverage of this story, Axanar has provided this Press Room Page full of links to news reports and editorials regarding the lawsuit.

CBS/Paramount files an AMENDED complaint against AXANAR

Axanar logoOn March 11, 2016, Paramount and CBS filed an amended complaint against Axanar Productions and Alec Peters for copyright infringement complaint, specifying precisely which elements of the Star Trek intellectual property that the two studios believe was illegally used without consent.

The original complaint was brought by Paramount and CBS on December 29, 2015.  Axanar’s legal team filed a response on February 22, 2016 seeking dismissal of the lawsuit on a number of legal grounds.  Presumably, that response is what has motivated Paramount and CBS to amend their complaint.

Here is a link to the text of the original lawsuit.

Here is a link to the text of Axanar‘s response.

Here is a link to the text of the AMENDED lawsuit.

Please note: Fan Film Factor is taking a neutral stance regarding this lawsuit and will simply announce developments as they happen.

For a more complete list of media coverage of this story, Axanar has provided this Press Room Page full of links to news reports and editorials regarding the lawsuit.