An open letter to CBS/Paramount.
This is beyond disappointing it's infuriating! Basically what's going on here is Paramount has been putting out crap movies and CBS got all us Trekkies worked up over a new TV show that looked promising. Star Trek Discovery has already fallen on its face, not only do I have to pay CBS to watch the only show on their network I'm interested in but it's already behind schedule and we can tell it's being loaded with Hollywood messaging instead of sticking to the kind of stories that made Star Trek in the first place. On top of this both fans as well as actors & actresses who are fed up with what CBS/Paramount are doing with Star Trek have taken to places like YouTube and crowd funding to make their own FAN MADE shows and movies.
Issue #1 This is NOT Illegal!
The laws only stipulate that you can't make money of the fan made material. You can raise money and spend that money to produce videos that is NOT illegal!
Issue #2 Timing
What this lawsuit really reeks of is desperation on the part of CBS/Paramount. They are desperate to try to get fans to watch the stuff they are putting out. However the fans are rejecting the garbage that CBS/Paramount is putting out.
Yes the JJ Abrams have raked in more money than any other Star Treks before, however they are also spending 5 times more on the movies then they were before. Take the new "Beyond" for instance. Paramount spent $185,000,000 on "Beyond". In the movie industry you need to make double that to get you money back, which means they needed $370,000,000 at the box office. They only got $158,848,340 Domestic and another $184,623,476 Foreign for a grand total of $343,471,816. By Hollywood/movie industry defenitions "Beyond" was a flop! The 3 Abrams movies have also been filled with bad acting, bad character and story development, and HUGE plot holes!
With "Discovery" quickly falling on its face as well CBS/Paramount is desperate to shut down any fan made material that's better and fans are more interested in then the CBS/Paramount garbage they will continue to produce.
Issue #3 CBS/Paramount you can't stop this!
What Alec Peters has agreed to do here is to make Axenar at a "lower" quality so it won't look as good. Really this should be a message to the entire movie industry and I believe Alec Peters made the biggest mistake by settling. It's becoming easier and cheaper for fans to make high quality movies and shows of there own and it's only going to continue. Rather than targeting and pissing off your fan base you should embrace this and try to bring it into your company. Think about it, fans are so desperate for quality Star Trek that they have pored millions of their own dollars into fan made material. If CBS/Paramount brought Alec Peters and Axenar into the fold and legitimized it in the Star Trek universe they would've made millions. Instead they are going to lose out on that money and the fans get the short end of the stick yet again!
The other important thing to consider is how long before CBS/Paramount does this to other fan made material as well? And how long before other movies and shows start going after fan made material as well? Hollywood will attempt to shut down all fan made material before long and force you to watch the crap they put out! This America we should be encouraging and supporting fan made shows and movies not discouraging it. Its part of the entrepreneurial spirit that makes America the leaders in entertainment among others things!
Sincerely a disgrunteled Trekkie!
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/cbs-paramount-settle-lawsuit-star-trek-fan-film-966433
Image via hollywoodreporter.com
