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jeremy-varner [2016/08/25 21:28] – [Grasping for Relevance] edit to tighten Carlos Pedrazajeremy-varner [Unknown date] (current) – external edit (Unknown date) 127.0.0.1
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 {{::discovery-axanar.jpg|A scene from 'Prelude to Axanar'}} {{::discovery-axanar.jpg|A scene from 'Prelude to Axanar'}}
-{{TOC}} 
-<WRAP> 
-//**__Opinion__**// 
-</WRAP> 
  
 ====== Discovery-Axanar Speculation Fuels Spurious Debate ====== ====== Discovery-Axanar Speculation Fuels Spurious Debate ======
 +{{TOC}}
  
 <WRAP left box 175px> <WRAP left box 175px>
 +//**__Opinion__**// \\
 <wrap lo>{{:user:carlos-doku.jpg?nolink&60|}} \\ By [[user>cpedraza|Carlos Pedraza]] \\ <wrap lo>{{:user:carlos-doku.jpg?nolink&60|}} \\ By [[user>cpedraza|Carlos Pedraza]] \\
 **AxaMonitor** editor \\ **AxaMonitor** editor \\
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 </WRAP> </WRAP>
  
-Blogger and novelist Jeremy Varner wasn't prepared for the intense response his speculation, "[[http://jeremyvarner.com/blog/2016/08/discovery-and-axanar/|Discovery and Axanar]]," would provoke in Star Trek fandom.+**BLOGGER AND NOVELIST** Jeremy Varner wasn't prepared for the intense response his speculation, "[[http://jeremyvarner.com/blog/2016/08/discovery-and-axanar/|Discovery and Axanar]]," would provoke in Star Trek fandom.
  
 Varner's August 15 piece observed that //Star Trek: Discovery// show runner [[imdb>name/nm0298188/|Bryan Fuller]] "accidentally confirmed why CBS sued Axanar,"(([[http://jeremyvarner.com/blog/2016/08/discovery-and-axanar/|"Discovery and Axanar," by Jeremy Varner]], jeremyvarner.com, 8/15/16.)) which proved sufficient to retweet and share across social media, drawing even more readers to Varner's website. Varner's August 15 piece observed that //Star Trek: Discovery// show runner [[imdb>name/nm0298188/|Bryan Fuller]] "accidentally confirmed why CBS sued Axanar,"(([[http://jeremyvarner.com/blog/2016/08/discovery-and-axanar/|"Discovery and Axanar," by Jeremy Varner]], jeremyvarner.com, 8/15/16.)) which proved sufficient to retweet and share across social media, drawing even more readers to Varner's website.
 +
 +<WRAP important>
 +[{{ ::false-discovery-axanar.jpg?direct&100|**Propaganda**}}]
 +<wrap lo><wrap em>UPDATE</wrap> On January 3, 2017, Axanar posted on its Facebook fan page a loosely sourced article Axanar used to support the unfounded claim that CBS had "stolen" the concept for //Star Trek: Discovery// from Axanar.</wrap>
 +</WRAP>
 +
 ===== Eureka! 'Discovery' Must be About Axanar ===== ===== Eureka! 'Discovery' Must be About Axanar =====
  
 [{{ ::uss-discovery.jpg?300|**USS DISCOVERY** appears in a teaser released by CBS at Comic-Con 2016.}}] [{{ ::uss-discovery.jpg?300|**USS DISCOVERY** appears in a teaser released by CBS at Comic-Con 2016.}}]
  
-There, Varner wrote, "Bryan Fuller started talking about what [//Discovery//] was going to be, and a lot of people had their 'Eureka' moment. … A lot of people started to connect the dots and see that maybe, just maybe, Axanar was a threat to the show,"(([[http://jeremyvarner.com/blog/2016/08/discovery-and-axanar/|"Discovery and Axanar," by Jeremy Varner]], jeremyvarner.com, 8/15/16.)) with Fuller's pending exploration of the time before the Original Series (just like //Axanar//), and of an event referred to in TOS (just like //Axanar//), to which Fuller's negative reply to whether the show would be about the [[mema>Earth-Romulan War|Romulan War]] had to mean the show would treat with some other major conflict, Varner speculated:+In his August piece, Varner wrote, "Bryan Fuller started talking about what [//Discovery//] was going to be, and a lot of people had their 'Eureka' moment. … A lot of people started to connect the dots and see that maybe, just maybe, Axanar was a threat to the show,"(([[http://jeremyvarner.com/blog/2016/08/discovery-and-axanar/|"Discovery and Axanar," by Jeremy Varner]], jeremyvarner.com, 8/15/16.)) with Fuller's pending exploration of the time before the Original Series (just like //Axanar//), and of an event referred to in TOS (just like //Axanar//), to which Fuller's negative reply to whether the show would be about the [[mema>Earth-Romulan War|Romulan War]] had to mean the show would treat with some other major conflict, Varner speculated:
  
 > The problem, really, is that there are very few events that happened between //Enterprise// and TOS which had any “discussion”. And, in fact, there were so few events worth talking about that even the interview above came down to “does it involve the [[mema>Battle of Axanar]]?”(([[http://jeremyvarner.com/blog/2016/08/discovery-and-axanar/|"Discovery and Axanar," by Jeremy Varner]], jeremyvarner.com, 8/15/16.)) > The problem, really, is that there are very few events that happened between //Enterprise// and TOS which had any “discussion”. And, in fact, there were so few events worth talking about that even the interview above came down to “does it involve the [[mema>Battle of Axanar]]?”(([[http://jeremyvarner.com/blog/2016/08/discovery-and-axanar/|"Discovery and Axanar," by Jeremy Varner]], jeremyvarner.com, 8/15/16.))
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 ==== Evidence to the Contrary ==== ==== Evidence to the Contrary ====
  
-However, despite Fuller's explicit statement //Discovery// was not going to deal with the Battle of Axanar, Varner concluded that any storyline other than the Romulan War would therefore have "to be shockingly similar in content to what Axanar was doing,'' leaving "a lot of people … thinking //Discovery// is going to be about an open conflict with these guys [Klingons]," which is, of course, what //Axanar// was to be about.(([[http://jeremyvarner.com/blog/2016/08/discovery-and-axanar/|"Discovery and Axanar," by Jeremy Varner]], jeremyvarner.com, 8/15/16.))+**NEVER MIND** Fuller's explicit statement //Discovery// was not going to deal with the Battle of Axanar, Varner concluded that any storyline other than the Romulan War would therefore have "to be shockingly similar in content to what Axanar was doing,'' leaving "a lot of people … thinking //Discovery// is going to be about an open conflict with these guys [Klingons]," which is, of course, what //Axanar// was to be about.(([[http://jeremyvarner.com/blog/2016/08/discovery-and-axanar/|"Discovery and Axanar," by Jeremy Varner]], jeremyvarner.com, 8/15/16.))
  
-<WRAP right box 50%> +<WRAP right round box 50%> 
-//**__« Despite Varner's admitted speculation Axanar supporters bestowed him with authoritativeness as they grasped for some kind of relevance. »__**//+//**__« Despite Varner's admitted speculation, Axanar supporters bestowed him with a kind of authority as they grasped for some kind of relevance. »__**//
 </WRAP> </WRAP>
  
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 ===== Betting on Whose Talent? ===== ===== Betting on Whose Talent? =====
  
-As for CBS being threatened by the leftover talent still behind //Axanar//, let's put it this way: I'd put my money on the talent assembled by Bryan Fuller and [[imdb>name/nm0583292/|Nicholas Meyer]] any day of the week ahead of Alec Peters and Robert Meyer Burnett.+**CREDIBLE THREAT?** As for CBS being threatened by the leftover talent still behind //Axanar//, let's put it this way: I'd put my money on the talent assembled by Bryan Fuller and [[imdb>name/nm0583292/|Nicholas Meyer]] any day of the week ahead of Alec Peters and Robert Meyer Burnett.
  
 [{{ ::nicholas-meyer.jpg?nolink|Writer and director of //Wrath of Khan// and //Undiscovered Country//, **Nicholas Meyer**.}}] [{{ ::nicholas-meyer.jpg?nolink|Writer and director of //Wrath of Khan// and //Undiscovered Country//, **Nicholas Meyer**.}}]
  
-Meyer, hired as a writer and producer for //Discovery//, helmed both //Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan// and //Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country//, both considered among the best films in the franchise.+Meyer, hired as a writer and producer for //Discovery//, helmed both //[[imdb>title/tt0084726/|Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan]]// (1982) and //[[imdb>title/tt0102975/?ref_=nv_sr_2|Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country]]// (1991), both considered among the finest films in the franchise. 
 ===== Ignoring Axanar's Commercial Ventures ===== ===== Ignoring Axanar's Commercial Ventures =====
  
-Varner blithely lumps Axanar in with other fan productions ("if no profit is being made and no contracts are being violated") that had also crowdfunded, ignoring that CBS' August 2015 statement, and even its eventual legal complaint against Axanar didn't assert "profit" or crowdfunding as causes of action in the copyright infringement case. The suit does specifically allege Peters and his company of receiving a "[[direct financial benefit]]" from the Axanar project's copyright infringement — "trading off our property rights."(([[http://www.thewrap.com/how-1-1-million-star-trek-fan-movie-has-escaped-studio-shutdown-so-far/|"How $1.1 Million ‘Star Trek’ Fan Movie Has Escaped Studio Shutdown (So Far)"]], The Wrap, 8/25/15.)) Among those business ventures, Peters:+Varner blithely lumped Axanar in with other fan productions ("… so long as they aren’t making a profit and aren’t doing something that negatively impacts [the original] work")(([[http://jeremyvarner.com/blog/2016/07/star-treks-guidelines-cbs-paramounts-loss/|"Star Trek's Guidelines, CBS Paramount's Loss," by Jeremy Varner]], jeremyvarner.com, 7/6/16.)) that had also crowdfunded. Varner ignored that CBS' August 2015 statement, and even its eventual legal complaint against Axanar didn't assert "profit" or crowdfunding as causes of action in the copyright infringement case. The suit does specifically allege Peters and his company of receiving a "[[direct financial benefit]]" from the Axanar project's copyright infringement — "trading off our property rights."(([[http://www.thewrap.com/how-1-1-million-star-trek-fan-movie-has-escaped-studio-shutdown-so-far/|"How $1.1 Million ‘Star Trek’ Fan Movie Has Escaped Studio Shutdown (So Far)"]], The Wrap, 8/25/15.)) Among those business ventures, Peters:
   * Established Axanar Productions as a for-profit corporation in California. Look it up [[http://kepler.sos.ca.gov/|here]].   * Established Axanar Productions as a for-profit corporation in California. Look it up [[http://kepler.sos.ca.gov/|here]].
-  * Used donor funds to build out a studio for commercial use beyond //Axanar//'s production.+  * Used donor funds to build out a [[moving_the_goalposts|studio for commercial use]] beyond //Axanar//'s production.
   * Set up ongoing revenue streams through his "Donor Store," peddling a full line of unlicensed [[merchandise]], including coffee, posters, apparel, artwork, books, DVDs, Blu-rays and model kits.   * Set up ongoing revenue streams through his "Donor Store," peddling a full line of unlicensed [[merchandise]], including coffee, posters, apparel, artwork, books, DVDs, Blu-rays and model kits.
-  * Paid himself a salary of $38,000 a year, plus his actors' union fees of more than $3,000. Those items cost more than the entire budget of //Star Trek–Horizon//, a [[horizon-matters|fan film that overtook]] //Prelude// with 2.5 million views in only five months; //Prelude// took two years to reach that level.+  * [[annual_report#axanar_budget_questions|Paid himself]] a salary of $38,000 a year, plus his actors' union fees of more than $3,000. Those items cost more than the entire budget of //Star Trek–Horizon//, a [[horizon-matters|fan film that overtook]] //Prelude// with 2.5 million views in only five months; //Prelude// took two years to reach that level.
  
 [{{ :horizon-sequel.jpg?300|**ANOTHER DISCOVERY** bedeviled Axanar. This fan film cost less than producer Alec Peters paid himself a year, and surpassed //Prelude to Axanar// on YouTube.}}] [{{ :horizon-sequel.jpg?300|**ANOTHER DISCOVERY** bedeviled Axanar. This fan film cost less than producer Alec Peters paid himself a year, and surpassed //Prelude to Axanar// on YouTube.}}]
  
-Suing someone trying to make millions off your intellectual property strikes me as more plausible than doing so because you're "afraid" of the unproven quality of a fan film (remember, much of the team that had pulled off //Prelude// was gone).+Suing someone who's trying to make millions off your intellectual property strikes me as a more plausible reason to take them to court than doing so because you're "afraid" of the unproven quality of their fan film (remember, much of the team that had pulled off //Prelude// was gone).
 ===== The Legality of Fan Works ===== ===== The Legality of Fan Works =====
  
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 Also, Varner ignores the extent of Axanar's commercial operation that became clear with publication of its [[Annual Report]] in November 2015; the suit came a month later. Also, Varner ignores the extent of Axanar's commercial operation that became clear with publication of its [[Annual Report]] in November 2015; the suit came a month later.
  
-<WRAP right box 50%>+<WRAP right round box 50%>
 //**__« I’d put my money on the talent assembled by Bryan Fuller and Nicholas Meyer any day of the week ahead of Alec Peters and Robert Meyer Burnett. »__**// //**__« I’d put my money on the talent assembled by Bryan Fuller and Nicholas Meyer any day of the week ahead of Alec Peters and Robert Meyer Burnett. »__**//
 </WRAP> </WRAP>
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 ==== Labyrinthine Copyright ==== ==== Labyrinthine Copyright ====
  
-Varner's second post spends a lot of effort bemoaning the labyrinthine nature of copyright law but for a piece about how legal fan works might be it spends little time on the topics of fair use and transformativeness — the heart of Axanar's presumed defense — instead focusing on cosplayers, DVRs, and those day care centers in Florida that painted Mickey Mouse and his pals on their walls, attracting the legal attention of Disney.+**VARNER'S SECOND** post spends a lot of effort bemoaning the labyrinthine nature of copyright law but for a piece about how legal fan works might be it spends little time on the topics of fair use and transformativeness — the heart of Axanar's presumed defense — instead focusing on cosplayers, DVRs, and those day care centers in Florida that painted Mickey Mouse and his pals on their walls, attracting the legal attention of Disney.
  
 Never mind that the Disney case wasn't a case. It was a C&D, and never went to court, so its outcome isn't dispositive about copyright. Never mind that it was more likely a trademark and licensing enforcement issue than a copyright one.(([[https://www.theselfemployed.com/law/disney-threatened-sue-daycare-centers/|"Why Disney Threatened To Sue Daycare Centers," TheSelfEmployed.com]], 1/27/15.)) Never mind that trademarks require vigorous enforcement to maintain, while copyright does not. Never mind that the Disney case wasn't a case. It was a C&D, and never went to court, so its outcome isn't dispositive about copyright. Never mind that it was more likely a trademark and licensing enforcement issue than a copyright one.(([[https://www.theselfemployed.com/law/disney-threatened-sue-daycare-centers/|"Why Disney Threatened To Sue Daycare Centers," TheSelfEmployed.com]], 1/27/15.)) Never mind that trademarks require vigorous enforcement to maintain, while copyright does not.