CBS lawyers’ delays are making it tough to find connections between Discovery creators and videogame

Attorneys for Tardigrades developer Anas Abdin want more time to find a connection between Star Trek: Discovery‘s creators and their client’s videogame, citing delays and objections by CBS’ attorneys.

Judge G. Lorna Schofield gave Abdin’s lawyers until March 19 to provide the evidence needed to move the case forward. CBS has a motion to dismiss pending.

• Needles in a haystack? Abdin needs to find CBS employees who were also members of the Steam platform who also developed Discovery, and who also voted in Steam's Greenlight program for his Tardigrades game.
• CBS objections: In a March 1 letter, Abdin lawyer John Johnson complains CBS’ attorneys have objected to the subpoena he wants to serve on Steam's owner, Valve Corp. CBS says many employees about whom Johnson inquires are no longer employed by CBS.
• CBS had agreed to provide evidence but hadn’t by the agreed-upon date, according to emails Johnson filed in court.

Johnson wants the judge to force CBS to provide the evidence. What he wants:

• IP addresses: Johnson’s wants Information about IP addresses of various CBS-owned domains.
• Connections to Steam: He wants Steam user account information about anyone involved in developing or producing Discovery, as well as accounts registered by anyone from CBS Broadcasting, All Access, Netflix, Living Dead Guy Productions, Secret Hideout, Roddenberry Entertainment or Pinewood Toronto Studios.
• Steam subpoena: From Steam, Johnson wants the voting record, and user information about anyone involved in developing or producing Discovery who voted on the Tardigrades game.
• Discovery creators and staff Johnson is interested in include Bryan Fuller, Alex Kurtzman, Nicholas Meyer, Aaron Harberts, Akiva Goldsman, Erika Lippoldt, Gretchen J. Berg, John Eaves, Jonathan Frakes, Kirsten Beyer, Olatunde Osunsanmi, Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth. More are listed in court documents.

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