CBS threaned to shutdown another Star Trek Indie Project

[heisenberg]

Following on the heels of CBS’ extremely detailed lawsuit against the fan film Axanar, we now hear that another Star Trek fan film has been told that it should probably stop. This time, it’s Star Trek: Federation Rising.

Federation Rising was going to be the sequel to last February’s fan film Star Trek: Horizon. It was supposed to begin a $US250,000 ($320,125) crowdfunding campaign this Saturday, so it’s kind of a mixed blessing that notice from CBS came when it did. At least there’s no money to return.

Creator Tommy Kraft explained on Facebook what happened, saying in part:

Earlier today, executives from CBS reached out to me and advised me that their legal team strongly suggested that we do not move forward with plans to create a sequel to Horizon. While this is a sign of the current climate that we find ourselves in with Star Trek fan films, I want to personally thank CBS for reaching out to me, rather than including us in their ongoing lawsuit against Axanar.

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2016/04/cbs-might-have-shut-down-another-star-trek-fan-film/

 

[Joelist]

Look at the Project Discovery blurb on their Facebook, it is telling. This is another group running Trek as part of a stable of films, in effect using the Trek copyrighted elements to boost their other work. In that way it is just like Axanar.

 

[shavedape]

Can someone enlighten me here? When did CBS ever sanction fan films? Did they allow some online projects? Is that what started this whole mess? As it is I honestly can't understand how anyone could think it was okay to sink hundreds of thousands of dollars into a project that one does not have the copyright sanction to do. So what gives?

 

[Joelist]

CBS/Paramount has not only sanctioned but actively cooperated with Trek fan film makers for a long time. Examples include:

Star Trek Continues: http://www.startrekcontinues.com/

Star Trek New Voyages: http://www.startreknewvoyages.com/

Where Axanar and now this project differ is that they seem to be projects from studios also making other films, and as such their crowdfunding winds up using Star Trek copyrighted materials to boost the non-Trek material, which violates the provisions that use was granted under (as in it is REALLY a non-profit fan film).

 

[shavedape]

CBS/Paramount has not only sanctioned but actively cooperated with Trek fan film makers for a long time. Examples include:

Star Trek Continues: http://www.startrekcontinues.com/

Star Trek New Voyages: http://www.startreknewvoyages.com/

Where Axanar and now this project differ is that they seem to be projects from studios also making other films, and as such their crowdfunding winds up using Star Trek copyrighted materials to boost the non-Trek material, which violates the provisions that use was granted under (as in it is REALLY a non-profit fan film).

In that case I stand behind CBS on this issue. I mean, there are fan films that are done as an end in themselves and then there is exploitation of the copyrighted material for profit. To me there's no gray area here.

 

[Overmind One]

Look at the Project Discovery blurb on their Facebook, it is telling. This is another group running Trek as part of a stable of films, in effect using the Trek copyrighted elements to boost their other work. In that way it is just like Axanar.

Yep, it's like the Axanar thing. I suppose there will always be the equivalent of trolls in just about everything. Like you said, this thing was also using Trek to promote other ventures, making it a profit seeking project. These people do not seem to see the line drawn. Star Trek Continues and Star Trek New Voyages are ONLY doing Star Trek, and only TOS Trek. Even Star Trek Farragut knows the line, even though they have packaged their production into DVD sets complete with covers (both downloadable for free).

The closer any "fan" production comes to being professional, the closer to the line it gets, and making money crosses that line. Axanar was selling Trek branded coffee and mugs and models too! After seeing Alec Peters mouth off across the web, bragging about his professional production and trying to throw the other fan productions under the bus, I want to see Paramount and CBS clean his clock.

 

[Overmind One]

Can someone enlighten me here? When did CBS ever sanction fan films? Did they allow some online projects? Is that what started this whole mess? As it is I honestly can't understand how anyone could think it was okay to sink hundreds of thousands of dollars into a project that one does not have the copyright sanction to do. So what gives?

Before Axanar, nobody was crowdfunding to get money from fans to make their production, and none of them were aiming squarely for "feature length" productions. Renegades used actual Star Trek actors, and those actors themselves contributed funds too. But most importantly, they did not make money or imply they were going to do any other non-Trek projects. Crowdfunding + Fan Production = Professional Production, and thus a violation.