Axanar - Crowdfunded 'Star Trek' Movie Draws Lawsuit from Paramount, CBS
- Thread starter mkstewartesq
- Start date
SmilingOtter
Master Member
Yeah, it was pretty much doomed the moment the lawsuit got filed.
I wonder if anything got filmed other than the Prelude short and the Vulcan scene...
I wonder if anything got filmed other than the Prelude short and the Vulcan scene...
Solo4114
Master Member
Guys, keep up.It was doomed from the start. It was NEVER going to be finished, regardless of the lawsuit. It was just another scheme of his.
I think it's possible it would have been made...if Paramount had given him a green light to make it. At a guess -- and this is truly just a wild-ass guess here -- Peters used the kickstarter to try to demonstrate support for his project, signed on some talent, and had some preliminary material to showcase to the suits...but no one was biting. I don't think that, left to his own devices, he'd have ever actually made the thing on his own, with the kickstarter money alone. I think he probably was hoping that the kickstarter was, like, "seed money" to get him enough of a polished product or to simply say "Look! There's demand for this! Let me do it!"
The trouble is, when he got shot down, he didn't just fold up his tent and call it a day. Instead, he got defiant and thought he could basically dodge the law when pretty much any 2nd year law student could've told you "This case is a loser."
Riceball
Master Member
Agreed, it sounds like he got off far lighter and easier than he could have and more's the pity, but kudos to him for escaping this lawsuit with shirt still on his back.
So he keeps the millions, still gets to make his film, but has to change it so it will be different from Star Trek?
But according to his court records, he spent all that money. So will he be asking fans for more money? Will they donate now that this is not the Star Trek film they had hoped for? Will they sue him for the money back since they backed a project that can no longer be made and he blew all the kickstarter money on his own personal living expenses? So many questions left in the air here.
But according to his court records, he spent all that money. So will he be asking fans for more money? Will they donate now that this is not the Star Trek film they had hoped for? Will they sue him for the money back since they backed a project that can no longer be made and he blew all the kickstarter money on his own personal living expenses? So many questions left in the air here.
mkstewartesq
Sr Member
Just based on what's been released so far, it's still all a bit unclear. We know he can only make Axanar as two 15 minute episodes - not the full length film fans paid $1.5 million for. Substantial changes have to be made, though we don't know what those are yet. He cannot crowd fund for it, though he can take private donations – meaning, yes, he will be going with his hand out to fans. But then it gets even more clear. He can use four of the actors who were in the short film – but it's not clear if they can play the same characters ( or even would want to be involved given all the bad publicity and it appears they may not be able to be paid for their work). Furthermore, he has to comply with the fan film guidelines – which say that no one who has worked with Star Trek before can work on the fan films, which would rule out the director Robert Meyer Burnett (as well as Alec, technically).
Either way, the response on the official page for the fan film is decidedly mixed – while some view it as it at least a partial victory, there are a whole lot of people who are finally waking up to the fact that they donated money for a full-length film and a DVD, and they are simply not going to get that and are not going to get a refund - and they are peeved.
And Axanar is not out of the woods - they have been reported to both the federal and state tax authorities for investigation as to whether they paiid taxes properly on the merchandise they sold through their donor store, and possibly whether they complied with applicable employment law for all of the "volunteers" who worked for them. There are also various claims that the donors may file a class-action lawsuit because it had been represented that the film was officially sanctioned by the studios – but, in all honesty, people have been claiming such a lawsuit would happen for a long time and I suspect it is all talk and will remain so
M
And this is why he believes he is above the law and invincible. We asked why he would fight as hard as he did, and there's your answer... He always walks away a winner and thinks he can beat anything. This just proves that he does.
So his initial November update to his donors stated the following:
Yet he filed the following statement to the courts:
"Mr. Peters personally profited from Plaintiffs' intellectual property by payinghimself with funds raised from consumers of Plaintiffs' intellectual property and by spending tens of thousands of dollars of those funds on his own personal expenses. Mr. Peters used fan-raised funds to pay for the tires on his Lexus, to service his car, to pay for his gas, each and every week for nearly two years, to pay for his girlfriend's gas for the same time period, to pay for two years of personal phone bills for himself, his girlfriend and Robert Meyer Burnett, to pay for his health insurance, his car insurance, his annual AAA memberships, his TSA airport precheck fee, and his personal travel to conventions, both in the United States and internationally.
Mr. Peters also used these funds to pay for tens of thousands of dollars in restaurant meals. Mr. Peters and his girlfriend were provided with debit cards that they used to pay for these expenses from the Axanar Productions account- which account was populated with funds contributed by Star Trek fans.
Further, Mr. Peters' company, Propworx, is housed in the studio facility that was rented andbuilt out using funds from Star Trek fans. Propworx has not paid any rent to Axanar Productions for its use of this facility.
So at what point do these donors feel duped and get pissed off at lies?
Yet he filed the following statement to the courts:
"Mr. Peters personally profited from Plaintiffs' intellectual property by payinghimself with funds raised from consumers of Plaintiffs' intellectual property and by spending tens of thousands of dollars of those funds on his own personal expenses. Mr. Peters used fan-raised funds to pay for the tires on his Lexus, to service his car, to pay for his gas, each and every week for nearly two years, to pay for his girlfriend's gas for the same time period, to pay for two years of personal phone bills for himself, his girlfriend and Robert Meyer Burnett, to pay for his health insurance, his car insurance, his annual AAA memberships, his TSA airport precheck fee, and his personal travel to conventions, both in the United States and internationally.
Mr. Peters also used these funds to pay for tens of thousands of dollars in restaurant meals. Mr. Peters and his girlfriend were provided with debit cards that they used to pay for these expenses from the Axanar Productions account- which account was populated with funds contributed by Star Trek fans.
Further, Mr. Peters' company, Propworx, is housed in the studio facility that was rented andbuilt out using funds from Star Trek fans. Propworx has not paid any rent to Axanar Productions for its use of this facility.
So at what point do these donors feel duped and get pissed off at lies?
BlobVanDam
Sr Member
Did he file that? That sounds like something the other side would have filed. I don't understand how the whole court thing goes though. Where do you guys get all of this court info anyway?
SciFiMuseum
Sr Member
WOW, this is completely incredible that he got out of it. I am floored right now.
asalaw
Sr Member
That was the studios' filing, not his.
Ok.... but did he tell them that is where the money went to show that there's no money left? Did he admit blowing that money on himself?
asalaw
Sr Member
In the discovery phase of a civil case, parties are generally obligated to produce documents and other evidence that the opposing party asks for. Generally, discovery requests have to be reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence, but documents and things asked for don't have to be admissible themselves.
There are all kinds of carveouts and possible objections, but if a party's objections don't fly with the court, they can be compelled by court order to produce the evidence (when the requesting party files a motion to compel discovery). By the same token, highly sensitive information, such as tax returns, trade secrets, etc., may be released subject to a protective order by the court, essentially preventing the public disclosure of such evidence.
In this case, it would seem the studios were voluntarily given Axanar's financial records by the defense in the normal course of discovery. Since the expenditures the studios mention are spelled out in the Motion for Summary Judgment, I'm guessing that at least those particular expenditures were not subject to any protective order.
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