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<fs x-small>MARCH 9, 2019<wrap indent> | </wrap><wrap indent> 4 MIN READ</wrap></fs>

====== Plaintiff: Discovery, Tardigrades Virtually Same Production ======

**//Game developer opposes CBS motion to dismiss copyright infringement lawsuit// **

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In opposing defendants’ motion to dismiss his copyright case against CBS and Netflix, game developer Anas Abdin says his Tardigrades game and //Star Trek: Discovery// are [[:tardigrades_dismissal_motion#other_alleged_similarities|substantially]] "the same production.

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<fs smaller>**//See also: [[tardigrades_dismissal_motion|CBS: Tardigrades Creator ‘Manufactured Similarities’]]//**</fs>
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===== Opposition Pleading =====

**Filed in federal court** this week, Abdin’s pleading claims:
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  * **CBS misconstrues legal conclusions**  from other cases and and misapplies them here.
  * **Uses inapplicable tardigrade examples**  from other media because only Discovery’s tardigrade replicates the concept, look and feel of his game’s version of the creature. In his [[https://anas-tronaut.blogspot.com/2019/03/game-developer-vs-game-player.html?m=1&fbclid=IwAR3Z45nK3o7xQdyOluq3kvvZJ_vBNSEXda_gPZFtp0CubCAHjB8O15XrHsY|blog post]] about the pleading, Abdin boldly claims:

[{{ :anas_abdin_linkedin.jpg?150|Tardigrades developer **Anas Abdin**}}]
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<WRAP>//**__« Any person watching the two works will instantly see the similarities and even think they are the same production. »__**//  <wrap indent>//— Tardigrades creator Anas Abdin//</wrap></WRAP>

==== Templates ====

The game’s characters and tardigrade clearly served as templates for the derivative characters and creature in //Discovery//.

  * **"Excessive splintering"**  of the Tardigrades game renders its elements unprotectable by Abdin, an argument he claims would leave CBS without copyright protection for its own Star Trek properties.

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<fs smaller>**DOWNLOAD** Anas Abdin's pleading opposing CBS' motion to dismiss his copyright infringement lawsuit. \\
[[opposition pleading|{{::pdf_icon.png?nolink&bottom|}}]] [[opposition pleading|1.3 MB PDF]]</fs>
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==== Axanar Connection ====

Interestingly, lawyers trying to defend Axanar against a copyright lawsuit brought by CBS and Paramount used a similar argument. The federal judge in that case [[:fair_use_denied#copyrightable_elements|didn't buy it]].

==== Items Protected by Copyright ====

**Specific items protected by copyright**: Abdin claims the following aspects of Tardigrades constitute the "heart of the work," taken by //Discovery//‘s creators and "spun off derivatively":
  * **A human-sized tardigrade**  capable of instantaneous teleportation across space.
  * **Floating blue dots**  representing space, rejecting CBS’ claim that [[:tardigrades_dismissal_motion#floating_dots|the visual expression]] is a common one in science fiction, pointing to //[[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3230854/|The Expanse]]//  as a recent example.
  * **The crude representation of a tardigrade**  in Abdin’s game, compared to the realistic depiction in //Discovery//, doesn’t mean the Trek creators didn’t copy it.
  * **Uniforms and spacesuits**  in Tardigrades that are similar to those depicted in //Discovery//.

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<fs larger><wrap em>Tardigrades Timetable</wrap></fs> \\
<fs smaller>**JANUARY 8** Discovery begins to find evidence Discovery's creators knew about the Tardigrades game. \\
**JANUARY 15** Plaintiff's third amended legal complaint due. \\
**FEBRUARY 12** Defense motion to dismiss is due. Joint Status Letter is also due. \\
**MARCH 5** Plaintiff must file to oppose dismissal motion. \\
**MARCH 12** CBS/Netflix can file to answer Abdin's opposition. \\
**MARCH 19** End of limited discovery. \\
**DECISION** Judge Schofield's decision is likely due shortly after the end of limited discovery.</fs>
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===== Alleged Manufactured Evidence =====

Abdin refutes CBS’ allegation in its motion to dismiss that he "[[:tardigrades_dismissal_motion#manufactured_similarity|manufactured similarities]]":

  * **Didn’t fabricate gay relationships**: In an affidavit attached to his pleading, Abdin does concede he erred in his legal complaint because he "inadvertently mixed up" two male characters in a homosexual relationship but it’s evident the game depicts a gay relationship that CBS ignores. "[[:tardigrades_dismissal_motion#manufactured_character_similarities|Nothing has been fabricated]]," he says.
  * **Glory holes and ‘out of touch’**: Abdin criticized CBS’ insensitivity to gay culture because it didn’t recognize that a bathroom encounter between two of Abdin’s characters in fact demonstrated they had a homosexual relationship like that copied by //Discovery//.
  * **Spliced video clips**  CBS alleges [[:tardigrades_dismissal_motion#manufactured_similarity|were edited together]] to create relationships that don’t exist were only done to demonstrate the similarity to Abdin’s "body of work."

==== Not Giving Up on Netflix ====

Abdin’s pleading also isn’t willing to let [[:tardigrades_dismissal_motion#remove_netflix_from_case|Netflix off the hook]] for its benefitting from CBS’ infringement of Tardigrades.

==== Awarding Attorneys’ Fees ====

Abdin’s attorneys also don’t concede they aren’t eligible to be paid from damages assessed by the court should Abdin win his case, even though the same law that disqualifies him from seeking statutory damages also makes his case [[:tardigrades_third_complaint#attorneys_fees_ineligible|ineligible to recover attorneys' fees]] as damages.

===== Bottom Line =====

Motions to dismiss are based only on points of law not of fact, so this phase of the case is a battle of legal case citations to be considered by the judge in deciding whether the case can proceed. Her decision could come later this month. {{:axamonitor-ico.gif?nolink|}}

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<wrap em>COMMENTS</wrap> \\
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**Keywords** {{tag>Tardigrades_lawsuit copyright infringement Star_Trek_Discovery}}