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The Does
LAWSUIT PRIMER Get an overview of the copyright lawsuit, including a timeline of the case, as well as downloadable pleadings made by the plaintiffs, CBS and Paramount, and defendants Alec Peters and Axanar Productions Inc. » Lawsuit Primer
Doe is short for John or Jane Doe, placeholder names often used in legal documents indicating individuals yet to be named. The legal complaint filed by CBS and Paramount Pictures names the defendants as follows:
AXANAR PRODUCTIONS, INC., a California corporation;
ALEC PETERS, an individual, and
DOES 1–20 , Defendants. 1) [emphasis added]
Download the full text of the lawsuit.
Who are They?
The plaintiffs may not know which specific 20 individuals took part in Axanar’s alleged copyright infringement, but they know what types of personnel were likely to be involved. Revealing their names is a likely part of the pre-trial activity ordered by the judge.
To that end, the legal complaint does identify these persons in this way:
“The Doe Defendants include, among others, those persons who aided in the writing of the scripts for the Axanar Works or producing or directing the films, and those persons who designed or caused to be designed the infringing sets, costumes, props and other elements in the Axanar Works that infringe copyrighted Star Trek elements.” 2) [emphasis added]
Judge’s Order
Judge Klausner issued a pre-trial order that appears to require the Does be named. The order tells the plaintiffs “to give notice of the scheduling conference immediately to each party that makes an initial appearance in the action after this date [the May 9, 2016, conference].”3)
According to {!IMDb:the Internet Movie Database}}, unless noted otherwise, these are the people who filled the positions described in the lawsuit:
Please note: Just because a person appears on this chart does not mean they will be named as a defendant, nor are the jobs listed necessarily the only positions to be named in the suit.
Job | In Prelude4) | In Axanar |
---|---|---|
Director | Christian Gosset | Robert Meyer Burnett |
Set Designer | Sean Tourangeau5) Thomas Marrone6) Scott Cobb7) | John Eaves8) Lee Quessenberry9) Sean Tourangeau10) |
Costume Designer | Patty Wright11) | Kate Bergh12) |
Prop Designer | No one is specifically credited with this title; it may fall to someone in the art department. | |
Screenwriters | Christian Gossett Alec Peters Alec Peters (story) | See ‘Changing cast of writers’ below |
Producers13) | Nicholas Cooper (associate producer) Neal Fischer (co-producer) Ryan T. Husk (associate producer) Diana Kingsbury (associate producer) Terry Alan McIntosh (co-producer) Alec Peters (executive producer) Carter Smith (co-producer) Mark Smith (associate producer) Jhennifer Webberley (co-producer) | Horace Austin (associate producer) Alan J. Hayes (associate producer) David A. Hernandez (associate producer) Matthew D. Hunt (associate producer) Diana Kingsbury (co-producer) Michael J. Lai (associate producer) Terry Alan McIntosh (co-producer) Alec Peters (executive producer) Bill R. Watters (associate producer) |
Changing Cast of Writers
The title and writing credits for Axanar have changed over time, according to IMDb.
Date | Project Title | Writers (credits) |
---|---|---|
2013 | Star Trek: Axanar | Dave Galanter14) … (story editor) David Gerrold … (creative consultant) Christian Gossett … (screenplay) Alec Peters … (screenplay) Alec Peters … (story) |
July 2015 | Axanar | Dave Galanter15) … (story editor) David Gerrold … (creative consultant) Christian Gossett … (story editor) Alec Peters … (screenplay) Alec Peters … (story) |
March 2016 | Axanar | David Gerrold … (creative consultant) Christian Gossett … (story) Bill Hunt … (screenplay) Alec Peters … (screenplay) Alec Peters … (story) |
Role of the Does
The suit alleges that each of the Does is “responsible in some manner for the occurrences alleged herein and Plaintiffs’ injuries.”16)
It further claims all the defendants “acted in concert … and all of the acts alleged herein to have been done by each defendant were authorized, approved, and/or ratified by each of the other defendants.”17)
Legal Representation
See also: Other attorneys
While the named defendants, Alec Peters and Axanar Productions, have secured free legal representation, potential conflicts of interest mean it’s not likely those attorneys can also represent the Does.
That means those additional defendants, once named, are personally and financially liable for some measure of damages in the lawsuit and open for the plaintiffs to co-opt to testify against Axanar.
The following section, Will They all be Sued?, features opinion and informed speculation.
Will They All be Sued?
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