Indeed, we will have truth to the tale and some data to see what is or is not effective.

Fan fiction producers would be better off channeling their energies into producing totally original episodes or movies that retain the optimistic outlook and thoughtful storylines that appeal to Star Trek fans, without infringing any copyrights or trademarks. By doing so they could disregard the new rules, employ whatever actors and writers they choose, add adult content if they wish to, copyright their films, promote their films to the entire science fiction fan base, and distribute them commercially for profit. The indie market could even be where the next great science fiction franchise originates.

The response to next month's movie should tell the tale. I will be surprised if a boycott by fan fiction supporters has any noticeable impact.

I guess this is exercising property rights, but it alienates the fan base that made it what it is. I think it is an unwise business move.

This is a great example of how intellectual property law goes overboard, and prevents more new creative works than it encourages (contrary to its proper Constutional purpose).

The background of "Star Trek" is 50 years old this year, and should have been placed in the public domain decades ago. The original creators should continue to own only a right to be paid for the specific works they published, and not a general right to prohibit derived works.

CBS and Paramount have every right to put out the guidelines and enforce them. The fans, however, have great power. All they need to do is to Stop Buying The Star Trek Products. That will zip the Mega-Corps to bargaining faster than a rabbit producing litters.

I am a huge fan of the first Star Trek TV shows. A good number of those shows I've watch who knows how many times.
I just watched the entire "Come Not Between Dragons" due to finding myself hooked at the get-go.
What an awesome parody! That would have been one of the best original Star Treks if played by the original actors back in the 60s.
If I were CBS or Paramount, I would not stifle such great stuff. I would consider it a salute.

Boycotting licensed ST products would send a good message to the producers. I, for one, would rather send a message than have an overpriced T-shirt with a logo.

On the one hand, copyright is copyright. Recall what Rand said even of the fair-use rules: "Personally I would sooner destroy every existing copy of my books than permit it."

On the other hand, this reeks of bad copyright management. And shows how badly large companies manage anything. The Law of Inertia applies here. And inertia, more than anything else, characterizes large companies.

Make no mistake, there is a large group of people peripherally connected to ST through the fan fils, all having "their" favorite, many to an exclusion of all others. These rules decimate them all. For a lot of people, the Axanar debacle was of no concern, as long as their specific interest was not threatened, but now, these new rules kill off all ST fan productions, for the most part. So they have managed to unite a whole diverse group and it may backfire on them. We shall have to see...

There are a multitude of efforts starting, one is a Facebook page for
https://www.facebook.com/groups/small...
It seeks to reduce CBS's projected take by encouraging people to form groups where one person subscribes to CBS and all watch ST new series. The theory is that it would reduce their revenue compared to everyone paying. Like buying one movie ticket at a drive in and bringing 5 people in the trunk.

Sorry about that. I think it auto makes it into a hyper link.

Wow, i did not post that as a hyperlink. But just for anyone who might care here is the link to the website and their "rules of acquisition".

http://www.startrek.com/fan-films

Just received a message from the "Star Trek: Renegades" group on Kickstarter, of which I am a supporter, regarding the new guidelines. It reads in part:

"As you know, we've already begun filming “The Requiem” so we cannot halt, suspend, or postpone production. Renegades, from the get go, was designed to be transformative... not derivative. Thus, with very minor changes to our script, we have eliminated all of the Star Trek references. The good news is that Renegades is now a completely original and ongoing series."

I'm actually okay with that. Affordable technology for making movies has advanced to the point that sci-fi fans who wish to produce their own content are better off striking out on their own, creating truly original content and hopefully using it as a springboard to more professional mainstream projects.

RE: "ST Beyond and their new series will tank quickly as a lot of fans will boycott it." I'm not so sure. The majority of fans are not that hardcore and most are not heavily (if at all) into fan fiction. Some fans of the indie productions will undoubtedly boycott the new CBS series, but I don't think there are enough of them to make a significant difference in whether it lives or dies.

Your st . com link took me to a different website.

There is a whole battle now brewing over this. Lots of agitation. If interested go look at what is posted in ST.Com where the "rules" are. 99% negative, some very virulent. ST Beyond and their new series will tank quickly as a lot of fans will boycott it. CBS may end up selling the IP and there is talk of a group of people all pooling their money together to buy it. Once they get done ruining it, it will have little value, except what already exists, so some deal may actually be struck to sell "new" material IP as separate entities. This is illustrative of the total disconnect between the "elites" and the people. These idiots have no idea what Trek Fans really want, and are willing to pay for, and do not understand the concept of value for value. The believe in "we give you what we want, you give us your money, and like it". Just like our glorious Republic is today.

They should start a parallel universe, or get the rights to an existing one (maybe from Robert A. and Virginia Heinlein Prize Trust) and produce something that Star Trek fans can't resist.
There are so many great Heinlein stories that haven't been converted to video and his fans probably exceed and include Star Trek fans as a subset. They don't even need the rights to a specific story, just use of the framework.
Fighting the IP owners of Trek is a losing proposition. They haven't shown much intelligence since NBC brilliantly cancelled ST in 1969.

That has been successfully destroyed by mush minded executives, who only care about their little narrow vision of what is "theirs". These rules are going to make a lot of people upset who have been making fan Trek for years now. Of course, there will be a lot who blame Axanar, but their only crime was being too good, better than what CBS could make, and for a lot less cost.

Freedom!!! I can't believe you found this and I did not. I have been a supporter of Axanar, and contributed heavily to see it made, and I still have no idea why something that basically is a creation of one person/group, that is just using a framework established over 50 years, is unethical or illegal. I would hope they go on and make it, and say "so sue us". Justin Lin and JJ basically lied a couple weeks ago. Arghh...

Thanks...never knew this stuff existed...I guess it won't again.
It was such a successful series.