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which_kobayashi_maru [2016/04/09 02:01] – Adds preamble; formatting fixes throughout Carlos Pedrazawhich_kobayashi_maru [Unknown date] (current) – external edit (Unknown date) 127.0.0.1
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 ====== Which Kobayashi Maru? ====== ====== Which Kobayashi Maru? ======
  
-//A popular blog post by an Axanar supporter portrays the lawsuit as a no-win scenario for Paramount Pictures (not CBS, the other plaintiff), while **AxaMonitor**'s Carlos Pedraza suggests that it's more likely a test of character for producer Alec Peters.//+//A popular blog post by an Axanar supporter portrays the lawsuit as a no-win scenario for Paramount Pictures (not CBS, the other plaintiff), while// **AxaMonitor**//'s Carlos Pedraza suggests that it's more likely a test of character for producer Alec Peters.//
  
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 {{ :user:carlos-doku.jpg?nolink&60|}} {{ :user:carlos-doku.jpg?nolink&60|}}
 <wrap lo>By [[user>cpedraza|Carlos Pedraza]] \\ <wrap lo>By [[user>cpedraza|Carlos Pedraza]] \\
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 **AXANAR SUPPORTER** Reece Watkins published a piece that's gotten some play this week, "Will Paramount’s Lawsuit Become the Studio’s Own Kobayashi Maru?", referring to the [[mema>Kobayashi Maru scenario|famous no-win scenario]] introduced in //Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan//. **AXANAR SUPPORTER** Reece Watkins published a piece that's gotten some play this week, "Will Paramount’s Lawsuit Become the Studio’s Own Kobayashi Maru?", referring to the [[mema>Kobayashi Maru scenario|famous no-win scenario]] introduced in //Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan//.
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 +<wrap lo><wrap em>UPDATE</wrap> Krypton Radio, the scifi news site that originally published Reece Watkin's Kobayashi Maru editorial posted an [[https://kryptonradio.com/2016/04/05/paramount-lawsuit-becomes-studios-kobayashi-maru/|edited version]] that included more accurate information about CBS' role as a joint plaintiff in the Axanar [[lawsuit]]. The updated post did not address any of the other structural and factual weaknesses addressed in this article.</wrap>
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 ===== All About Paramount (Not CBS) ===== ===== All About Paramount (Not CBS) =====
  
 In [[https://kryptonradio.com/2016/04/05/paramount-lawsuit-becomes-studios-kobayashi-maru/|Watkins' telling]] of the state of the copyright infringement lawsuit Axanar faces from Star Trek owners CBS and Paramount Pictures, CBS plays no role. Only "the beleaguered studio," Paramount Pictures, faces a "legal quagmire" from what, in it's beleaguerment, should have been been a "quick-and-out" victory. In [[https://kryptonradio.com/2016/04/05/paramount-lawsuit-becomes-studios-kobayashi-maru/|Watkins' telling]] of the state of the copyright infringement lawsuit Axanar faces from Star Trek owners CBS and Paramount Pictures, CBS plays no role. Only "the beleaguered studio," Paramount Pictures, faces a "legal quagmire" from what, in it's beleaguerment, should have been been a "quick-and-out" victory.
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-//**__Watkins presents no facts to show how Paramount will be compelled to reward copyright infringers who used Star Trek to fund their commercial ventures.__**// 
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 The analysis in Watkins' blog post — featured prominently on Axanar's website — suffers from some major problems. The biggest? It assumes facts not in evidence. For example: The analysis in Watkins' blog post — featured prominently on Axanar's website — suffers from some major problems. The biggest? It assumes facts not in evidence. For example:
  
   * The assumption that Paramount has the most at stake in this case. His post largely ignores CBS' stake. While Paramount holds the movie rights for Star Trek, CBS holds the TV rights and — importantly — the licensing rights that have filled corporate coffers for 50 years.   * The assumption that Paramount has the most at stake in this case. His post largely ignores CBS' stake. While Paramount holds the movie rights for Star Trek, CBS holds the TV rights and — importantly — the licensing rights that have filled corporate coffers for 50 years.
-  * That the case threatens to become a legal quagmire. It's so early in the case that there's insufficient evidence to conclude the plaintiffs face a quagmire. There's been no discovery, no ruling on the defense's [[motion to dismiss|dismissal motion]], no [[scheduling_conference|pre-trial conference]], no hearing of any kind yet before U.S. District Court [[Judge R. Gary Klausner]].+  * That the case threatens to become a legal quagmire. It's so early in the case that there's insufficient evidence to conclude the plaintiffs face a quagmire. There's been no [[discovery]], no ruling on the defense's [[motion to dismiss|dismissal motion]], no [[scheduling_conference|pre-trial conference]], no hearing of any kind yet before U.S. District Court [[Judge R. Gary Klausner]].
  
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 +//**__Watkins presents no facts to show how Paramount will be compelled to reward copyright infringers who used Star Trek to fund their commercial ventures.__**//
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 ===== Straw Man Arguments ===== ===== Straw Man Arguments =====
  
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 For Paramount (don't forget CBS, Reece!), protecting their billion-dollar Star Trek property is worth that outlay. Axanar's demise is merely the instrument by which they get a clear legal judgment preventing anyone else from setting up multiple revenue streams and gathering seed money for their commercial ventures on the back of intellectual property they don't own, all under the guise of producing a fan film. For Paramount (don't forget CBS, Reece!), protecting their billion-dollar Star Trek property is worth that outlay. Axanar's demise is merely the instrument by which they get a clear legal judgment preventing anyone else from setting up multiple revenue streams and gathering seed money for their commercial ventures on the back of intellectual property they don't own, all under the guise of producing a fan film.
  
-This is all, of course, in a world at which Axanar is not at its center. But let's travel back to that world of fantasy to consider Watkins' next assertion (again, with facts not in evidence):+This is all, of course, in a world in which Axanar is not at its center. But let's travel back to that world of fantasy to consider Watkins' next assertion (again, with facts not in evidence):
  
 ==== Paramount's Dirty Little Secrets ==== ==== Paramount's Dirty Little Secrets ====
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 > That’s not all Paramount has to worry about. … There is still a huge amount of money at risk for the film studio, namely in the form of the upcoming “Star Trek Beyond” film. With a budget well into nine figures, the slightest whiff of bad publicity could easily reduce the opening weekend box office for their summer blockbuster by more than they could hope to be awarded in damages, even if Axanar Productions did have millions to pay out. > That’s not all Paramount has to worry about. … There is still a huge amount of money at risk for the film studio, namely in the form of the upcoming “Star Trek Beyond” film. With a budget well into nine figures, the slightest whiff of bad publicity could easily reduce the opening weekend box office for their summer blockbuster by more than they could hope to be awarded in damages, even if Axanar Productions did have millions to pay out.
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 +//**__//Star Trek Beyond// will rise or fall on its own merits, not the imaginary market power of a fringe group of fans.__**//
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 === Bad Publicity === === Bad Publicity ===
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 === Media Narrative === === Media Narrative ===
  
-In this world, the real world, most people don't give a hoot about a fan film accused of wholesale copyright infringement, especially once they learn about the commercial ventures associated with the production. While a good number of the initial media stories back in December played off the David vs. Goliath narrative Axanar was promoting, as the case has progressed the stories have focused more on photo-friendly copyright disputes, like whether you can copyright a fictitious language like Klingon, or whether pointy-eared Vulcans are essentially the same as vampires and elves in other genre.+In this world, the real world, most people don't give a hoot about a fan film accused of wholesale copyright infringement, especially once they learn about the commercial ventures associated with the production. While a good number of the initial media stories back in December played off the David vs. Goliath narrative Axanar was promoting, as the case has progressed the stories have focused more on photo-friendly copyright disputes, like whether you can copyright a fictitious language like Klingon, or whether pointy-eared Vulcans are essentially the same as vampires and elves in other genres.
  
 Most of the audience Paramount hopes to attract to //Star Trek Beyond// have no interest in a story about nerds arguing about whether you can get sued for saying //Qapla’.// Most of the audience Paramount hopes to attract to //Star Trek Beyond// have no interest in a story about nerds arguing about whether you can get sued for saying //Qapla’.//
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 Assuming every single one boycotts //Beyond//, that won't make even a dent in the audience numbers. //Star Trek Beyond// will rise or fall on its own merits, not the imaginary market power of a fringe group of fans, many of whom never liked the rebooted Trek anyway.  Assuming every single one boycotts //Beyond//, that won't make even a dent in the audience numbers. //Star Trek Beyond// will rise or fall on its own merits, not the imaginary market power of a fringe group of fans, many of whom never liked the rebooted Trek anyway. 
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 ==== 'Axanar' the Savior ==== ==== 'Axanar' the Savior ====
  
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 The character being tested is the one that when suddenly faced with a lawsuit about his singular misuse of intellectual property he does not own began calling his production just a fan film like all the others, and kicked out anyone who dared to question the party line in its Facebook groups, often maligning their character, swearing at them and calling them names. The character being tested is the one that when suddenly faced with a lawsuit about his singular misuse of intellectual property he does not own began calling his production just a fan film like all the others, and kicked out anyone who dared to question the party line in its Facebook groups, often maligning their character, swearing at them and calling them names.
  
-That's the Kobayashi Maru test Alec Peters and Axanar faces in the real world.+That's the Kobayashi Maru test Alec Peters and Axanar face in the real world. {{:axamonitor-ico.gif?nolink|}}
  
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 **Keywords** {{tag>news commentary}} **Keywords** {{tag>news commentary}}