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—appeal_statement [2017/01/05 11:55] – [Minimizing Legal Travails] Carlos Pedraza
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 +//**__<wrap em>Fact Check</wrap>__**//
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 +====== Axanar Assures Donors Lawyers Will Stay for Appeal ======
 +{{TOC}}
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 +//**__ __**// <wrap lo>**By [[user>cpedraza|Carlos Pedraza]]**</wrap>
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 +<wrap lo>Main story: //[[fair_use_denied|Judge Denies Axanar Its Fair Use Defense]]//</wrap> \\
 +<wrap lo>See also: //[[appeal_fact_check|Axanar's Chances on Appeal]]//</wrap>
 +
 +Axanar told its donors it not only plans to to pursue its [[copyright infringement]] case to the Ninth Circuit [[appeal_fact_check|Court of Appeals]] but that its pro bono law firm, [[Winston & Strawn]], would stand by the beleaguered project.
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 +{{page>fact check}}
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 +===== Reassuring Donors =====
 +
 +In a January 4, 2017, statement to the Axanar Donors Group on Facebook, spokesman [[bawden_s_broad_brush|Mike Bawden]] lauded the "resourceful and experienced legal team from Winston," and related the firm's continuing commitment to the case:
 +
 +> In our conference with counsel today, we were reassured they would continue preparing our case for all options — from a [[settlement_conference|negotiated solution]] with [[CBS]] and [[paramount_pictures|Paramount]] to a formal appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.(({{::bawden-1.jpg?linkonly|Mike Bawden post}}, Facebook Axanar {{ ::bawden-2.jpg?linkonly |Donors Group}}, 1/4/17.))
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 +Bawden sought to reassure donors concerned about Axanar's chances in court after months of failed settlement talks and a string of court decisions eating away at its case, culminating in federal [[judge_r._gary_klausner|Judge R. Gary Klausner]]'s [[fair_use_denied|ruling]] denying Winston its [[fair use]] defense on behalf of defendants [[Alec Peters]] and [[Axanar Productions]].
 +
 +[{{ :bawden-peters.jpg?250|Axanar spokesman **Mike Bawden** with producer Alec Peters.}}]
 +
 +==== Minimizing Legal Travails ====
 +
 +**ONE MORE STEP** Bawden described Klausner's decision, characterized by most legal observers as a heavy blow to the defense, as "just one more step in the legal process leading to a jury trial later this month."(({{::bawden-1.jpg?linkonly|Mike Bawden post}}, Facebook Axanar Donors Group, 1/4/17.))
 +
 +**LEFT TO THE JURY** Bawden also described the coming trial as the forum in which a jury will determine whether Axanar is "substantially similar" to the Star Trek works owned by CBS. That elided the fact the judge actually found from a purely legal ("extrinsic") analysis that Axanar had in fact used significant Star Trek copyright elements for commercial purposes with the likelihood of harming the market for the studios' own works.
 +
 +What the judge left for the jury to determine was whether a subjective, "intrinsic" analysis — the judgment by reasonable lay people — would find that the "total concept and feel of [the Axanar and Star Trek works] were substantially similar" — something the law states a judge cannot decide; only a jury can.((Judge R. Gary Klausner, Order Re: Plaintiffs’ Motion for Partial Summary Judgment and Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment, Docket 163, p. 9, 1/4/16.))
 +
 +=== Peters: Axanar 'Just a Hobby' ===
 +
 +Meanwhile, through his surrogate blogger at Fan Film Factor, Peters reportedly attempted to minimize the importance of the case to him:
 +
 +> Alec told me earlier today, it's just a lawsuit. It's just business. It was essentially a hobby for him. He didn't work in the film business before Axanar, and if he loses this case, he likely won't work in the film business afterward. That's not a sinking ship; it's just status quo.(([[http://fanfilmfactor.com/2017/01/04/judge-issues-order-on-motions-for-summary-judgment-in-axanar-lawsuit/#comment-3766|Jonathan Lane comment, "Judge Issues Order on Motions for Summary Judgment"]], Fan Film Factor blog, 1/4/17.))
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 +//**__<wrap lo><wrap lo>Finding a reasonable resolution remained more difficult than ever, with the judge finding Axanar was a commercial endeavor likely to harm Star Trek’s owners. </wrap></wrap>__**//
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 +==== Boilerplate Assurance ====
 +
 +Bawden ended the statement by repeating the assurance he had made in almost every previous press statement Axanar released:
 +
 +> Axanar Productions remains committed to finding a reasonable resolution of this matter that respects the concerns of CBS and Paramount while allowing us to tell the story of Axanar in a way that will meet the reasonable expectations of the over 10,000 Star Trek fans who helped back our project from the beginning.((Mike Bawden post, Facebook Axanar {{ ::bawden-2.jpg?linkonly |Donors Group}}, 1/4/17.))
 +
 +=== Uphill Battle ===
 +
 +Unfortunately, this latest court ruling made finding a reasonable resolution that respects CBS and Paramount's concerns more difficult than ever, with:
 +  * Axanar's fair use defense gutted;
 +  * The judge's finding Axanar was a commercial endeavor likely to have harmed Star Trek's owners, and
 +  * Peters' admission he spent all $1.4 million that was to have gone to produce //Axanar//. {{:axamonitor-ico.gif?nolink|}}
 +
 +----
 +**Keywords** {{tag>Lawsuit Defendants Appeal fair_use fact_check}}