That is true, and I am at 250.00 for Axanar, and would throw more at it. They know what they are doing from a quality perspective. Unlike CBS. Even Renegades was sub par compared to Tobias Richters efforts in Axanar. Look at the new trailers they sent out.

Well, good for them, they are trying to wiggle within the new NROA. They have a unique advantage, all their main supporters know what is really going on. Look at Blade of Honor for what it is like to start from scratch with a new idea. It has almost all the same actors in it.

Bingo! Exactly the issue.

Actually, they have 75 years on the original works. Disney got an extension for Steamboat Willy. Doesn't mean it isn't a really bad move from a business perspective.

Trek has been statist claptrap propaganda since the original series ended. i watched it all without the realization I was being manipulated until late in the "next generation.".
Picard was a statist ass. Riker should have mutinied in the second episode.
Later series "leaders" were even worse.

Its a good example of zero-sum thinking by CBS-Paramount. Its easier to crush creative competition by legal means than to compete by producing.

Exactly the right free market solution.
In the immortal words of Billy Ray Valentine, "the best way you hurt rich people is by turning them into poor people."

Its a cash cow that they will milk as long as possible. That is the essence of Hollywood. They own the IP and they acquired it legally at significant cost. It is theirs to destroy and they have every right to do so.
I agree that fans should organize a boycott and follow the example of Winthorp and Valentine.
They might even join forces with someone from the industry to create new media content as an alternative.

The Renegades website is now showing new names for the characters as well as for the Federation.

Indeed, a point. That would be something that would need hammering out. However, Axanar has very little connection to anything ever made, that is it's whole point. ST Continues and New Voyages are a lot more violating of this concept. Yet it is Axanar sued. Renegades treads a little deeper, but then they are killing off them to move onto their own characters. I believe there is a lot more behind all this than IP.

Sherlock Holmes is off copyright, according to this:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-n...

Blah, blah, blah... I donated $100 to AXANAR. Did you put your money where your mouth is?

This is an old problem. Paramount changed the Star Trek Universe, granted that. Before this new series (2009) Paramount would not allow profic (professional fiction) that derived from fanfic (fan-created fiction) in which new romances exists. In the current product, Spock and Uhuru violate that stricture.

But so what?

You need to look at SHERLOCK HOLMES which is still controlled by the owners of the copyright. On the other hand, no one owns Shakespeare.

Property rights are important... to property... but what is and is not property is a metaphysical discussion that has never been resolved rationally. We need it. We do not have it. (yet).

RE: “the use of the concepts and characters in original material should be free and unfettered”. I agree about the concepts, but not about the characters. I don’t think, for example, that characters created and marketed by Disney should be in the public domain. Ditto for the characters in Atlas Shrugged.

That will be interesting to see, in that they already committed to Ep1 that it is ST and the ST Universe. It will be hard to change in midstream, but I hope they do. It wasn't a huge impression making show, but was series worthy. It would have been good to see it mature. I am hoping Netflix (who was turned down in a request to make an ST series), grabs it just to smack CBS.

Renegades, according to their own statement, says "we have eliminated all of the Star Trek references." I'm not sure of the details (the finished product will show us that), but it looks like Renegades is no longer associated with Star Trek in any way, and therefore is not subject to any of the new rules. I think the characters will have to be renamed, but the actors should be free to remain in the production if it is no longer in the Star Trek universe.

CBJ, I do not see it that way (and that is indeed part ofg this whole mess, is it is as clear as mud) but Tuvoc would appear to break the New Rule of Acqusition number 5:

The fan production must be a real “fan” production, i.e., creators, actors and all other participants must be amateurs, cannot be compensated for their services, and cannot be currently or previously employed on any Star Trek series, films, production of DVDs or with any of CBS or Paramount Pictures’ licensees.
- See more at: http://www.startrek.com/fan-films#sth...

Renegades will either have to dump all their actors who have SG licenses, or go rogue, to meet this one. This is particularly targeted at Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, JG Hertzler and Gary Graham. There are others as well,but most of Renegades cast were professional actors, who do not appear to meet the requirement for "amateurs".

The actors can be in it, just need to change the names and uniforms of their characters. Alien races, starships, technology ditto, as long as the names and shapes are different. It will take a little effort, but most of the changes will be cosmetic. Future series will have an easier time, as they will not have to correct course midstream.

The real reason they've done this is that the fan films are better than what is being produced by CBS.

They may be within the law, as currently written by lawyers for companies like CBS and Paramount, but alienating their own customers, who are not only not taking away from CBS/Paramount, but actually adding to their viewership, is rather dumb.

Yes. I am not using CBS for anything, nor Paramount. Period.

Exactly. Right on the top. :)

I think Jan has the right idea, there is a point where the copyright to the concepts ends and the copyrigght to specific material takes over. Well and good they own the current stuff, but the use of the concepts and characters in original material should be free and unfettered, and let the marketplace decide the quality by voting with their money. CBS is doing the socialist version of ownership "I own it all, even yours"

The is an aura to Trek that people like. There are several new programs trying to get there, go look up "Blade of Honor" which just finished a Kickstarter at 51K (enough for 2 shows). They are trying a non Trek sci fi story. Have to see what it is like.

Exactly one of the arguments, this is a mini Hilary event. Same illogic, same bad stories being told, same twisting of facts. The fact CBS could have bought into Axanar for a very low amount, and helped them make it, then turned around and had a ready made platform for an ongoing series at very low cost, to use on their new access thingy, and dragged a few hundred thousand fans to their new channel, shows just how incompetent business people have become. The shareholders of CBS should be furious and demand that they fire the management. Wasting big money on a gamble is usually frowned on by shareholder, who are normally risk averse, and this thing has been one risky screw up after another.

My question there (I supported them too), is How do you plan to do this? Tuvoc cannot be in it, the Admiral cnnot be in it. No Starfleet ships, warp drive, alien races, etc. If it has ever been in Trek (and they had a lot of trek structure in it) it cannot be used per the new rules of acquisition.