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settlement_analysis [2019/02/26 21:56] – created Carlos Pedraza | settlement_analysis [2019/06/01 15:49] – [The Legal Merits of Peters' Settlement Offer] Carlos Pedraza | ||
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====== The Legal Merits of Peters' | ====== The Legal Merits of Peters' | ||
- | //**Was Axanar's former director right to refuse to settle Alec Peters lawsuit against him?** // | + | //**Was Axanar’s former director right to refuse to settle Alec Peters lawsuit against him?** // |
- | **Former //Axanar// director Robert Meyer Burnett refused** producer Alec Peters' | + | |
- | * **The settlement' | + | Former //Axanar// director Robert Meyer Burnett |
- | * **It doesn’t actually settle any claims** against Burnett. Sure, it looks like he'd avoid any lawsuit by doing everything | + | |
- | * **Peters could still sue** even if Burnett abides by everything in the agreement. To put a fine point on it, our consulting attorney says: | + | |
- | ---- | + | |
- | “It' | + | <WRAP center 90%> <fs smaller> |
+ | See also: [[: | ||
- | ---- | + | {{page> |
- | * **Setting Burnett up for another suit**: Peters asks Burnett to acknowledge the existence of what Peters says are loans — $31,550 worth. Under these terms, Peters could go on to sue Burnett later for non-payment and Burnett couldn't deny the payments were a loan. | + | |
- | **Giving up copyright**: | + | ===== ' |
- | * **That's probably worthless**. Burnett's ownership of work apart from Star Trek intellectual property wouldn't be released even by this kind of agreement with Peters. | + | |
- | * **The Copyright Act requires** a valid written reassignment of copyright. This agreement fails to qualify as such. | + | |
- | * **Cribbing from CBS' | + | * **It doesn’t actually settle any claims** |
- | * **Were CBS to sue a fan film** it wouldn't be because it violated the guidelines. It would be simple copyright infringement. The guidelines are legally irrelevant. "Alec doesn’t understand the difference," | + | * **Peters could still sue** even if Burnett abides by everything in the agreement. To put a fine point on it, our consulting attorney says: |
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+ | ==== A Setup? ==== | ||
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+ | ==== Losing Copyright ==== | ||
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+ | **Giving up copyright**: | ||
+ | * **That’s probably worthless**. Burnett’s ownership of work apart from Star Trek intellectual property wouldn’t be released even by this kind of agreement with Peters. | ||
+ | * **The Copyright Act requires** | ||
+ | * **Cribbing from CBS’ fan film guidelines**: | ||
+ | * **Were CBS to sue a fan film** | ||
* **Freedom of speech**: Peters wants to keep Burnett from producing any kind of documentary about Axanar. Freedom of speech would likely protect Burnett, even if he signed the agreement. | * **Freedom of speech**: Peters wants to keep Burnett from producing any kind of documentary about Axanar. Freedom of speech would likely protect Burnett, even if he signed the agreement. | ||
- | **Which state’s law governs?** The offer doesn't say, though the case is being tried in Georgia, but Burnett is a California resident. | + | |
- | * **Why it matters**: | + | ===== Which State’s Law Governs? ===== |
- | * **California is very pro-freedom** of employment, so some provisions may be unenforceable there. | + | |
+ | The offer doesn’t say, though the case is being tried in Georgia, but Burnett is a California resident. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Why it Matters ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | Nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) are a form of restrictive covenant treated differently by each state. | ||
+ | * **California is very pro-freedom** | ||
**No time limitation**: | **No time limitation**: | ||
- | * **If what Burnett keeps confidential for Axanar isn't a true trade secret **Peters may be out of luck. The theory here is that eventually information that isn't truly a trade secret (like, say, the formula for Coke) — and what about //Axanar// is like that given that it's based on intellectual property it doesn' | ||
- | * **This agreement literally goes on forever**: Most states' | ||
- | **Overly broad**: Peters is trying to keep Burnett from talking about more than most states' | ||
- | * **Proprietary information that isn't confidential. **Take Axanar' | ||
- | * **Courts don't like that**. How come? | ||
- | * **Restricting free speech** is significant public policy, so courts generally examine such restrictions as if applied as broadly as this one. | ||
- | **Any ambiguity favors Burnett**. Almost every state construes agreements //against// the interest of the party who drafted it — Alec Peters, in this case. | ||
- | * **So if there' | ||
- | **The bottom line**: No good reason appears to exist for Burnett to have agreed to Peters' | ||
+ | === Stale Information === | ||
+ | * **If what Burnett keeps confidential for Axanar isn’t a true trade secret **Peters may be out of luck. The theory here is that eventually information that isn’t truly a trade secret (like, say, the formula for Coke) — and what about // | ||
+ | * **This agreement literally goes on forever**: Most states’ law doesn’t look favorably on holding someone liable to protect information that isn’t valuable anymore. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Overly Broad ===== | ||
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+ | Peters is trying to keep Burnett from talking about more than most states’ laws will allow. | ||
+ | * **Proprietary information that isn’t confidential. **Take Axanar’s logo, for example. It’s someone’s property but isn’t confidential. This agreement keeps Burnett from even speaking about the logo. | ||
+ | * **Courts don’t like that**. How come? | ||
+ | * **Restricting free speech** | ||
+ | **Any ambiguity favors Burnett**. Almost every state construes agreements // | ||
+ | * **So if there’s any uncertainty** | ||
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+ | ===== The Bottom Line ===== | ||
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+ | No good reason appears to exist for Burnett to have agreed to Peters’ settlement offer. {{: | ||
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+ | <WRAP tip 75%> | ||
+ | <wrap em> | ||
+ | Discuss this article in [[face> | ||
+ | </ | ||
+ | ---- | ||
+ | **Keywords** {{tag> |