
Star Trek Copyright Settlement Allows Fan Film to Proceed - gnicholas
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/21/movies/star-trek-axanar-fan-film-paramount-cbs-settlement.html
======
AngryAnt
"Though the suit was derided by some fans, The Hollywood Reporter noted that
the studios were using it to signal that they would no longer tolerate
professional-quality derivatives of its movies and television series."

I would be very interested in finding out how they intend to define
"professional-quality". Particularly these days.

Would you not quickly end up needing to "sabotage" your output in order to
skirt the rules of such a definition, in what amounts to a strange new dogma
format?

~~~
manwithaplan
> I would be very interested in finding out how they intend to define
> "professional-quality"

They tried to: [http://www.startrek.com/fan-
films](http://www.startrek.com/fan-films)

~~~
AngryAnt
Thanks! It seems that the key here is "creators, actors and all other
participants must be amateurs".

So can you ever ship two Star Trek fan productions? Or does the first
production render you sufficiently experienced to no longer qualify as an
amateur? ;)

------
AngryAnt
Could definitely have hoped for a more useful settlement. Like requiring that
Axanar be monetised and all proceeds go to Paramount - without imposing any
creative or production limitations.

The need to send a clear message about their strategy and relationship with
fan fiction going forward makes sense, but surely there's a useful compromise
to be found which would also increase the value of their IP?

------
makecheck
It’s kind of sad that companies spend so much time squashing ants. Instead of
seeing an opportunity to encourage more excellent film-making, and allowing
talented people to keep improving their skills and one day produce even more
awesome projects, all they see is a chance to go to court.

