Snap Count

Post by **Jean** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 4:02 am

Mike, it used to be that if you posted an image from any Star Trek episode, you were forced to take it off your site. It did create a lot of negative publicity for Paramount. Paramount also tried to shut down a lot of the ... ummm ... well, the more sexually explicit fanzines and the fanzines with a gay slant on the relationships between the characters. This effort met with varying rates of success.

We don't know what agreements the fan film people may have. If, for example, Paramount gets X percent of the proceeds and the filmmakers give the episodes away, then no money exchanges hands and all could be well.

Parodies are protected by law, so most filk is fine.

My personal guess, and it is a guess, is that Paramount is only going after clearcut cases where there is a profit being made. This choice is probably due to the proliferation of websites. Paramount can collect damages for sites making money from their IP.

Think of it this way--it is illegal to go 56 mph in a 55 mph zone. If you do something else illegal, the police will probably toss speeding in on top of the pile. However, they focus on folks going 65 mph or faster in a 55 mph zone. It doesn't mean that going 56 mph in the 55 mph zone is not breaking the law. It just means there are so many worse offenders out there that need to be caught first the police don't have time to deal with petty speeders.

Does that help explain things?

Sgt_G · Post by **Sgt_G** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 3:58 pm

I got some feedback on my TIMELINES story last week. The person asked if I got my inspiration was from IN HARM'S WAY or OF GODS AND MEN fan-fic films. No, I did not. I wrote TIMELINES while deployed to Pakistan back in 2004. The story was cooking in the back of my brain for at least six months prior to putting the first words on a screen. I had not heard of the New Voyages project (now called "Star Trek - Phase II", by the way) until well after I got back to the States, and OF GODS AND MEN just came out this past year. I was finally able to watch it last night; it would never play on my computer before, but I recently reloaded it with a new hard drive. Yes, I just happened to use the same basic plot device as they did. But come on, it's not like it's never been used in Trek or other sci-fi before!

By the way, if you haven't watched OF GODS AND MEN yet, I recommend you do so next time you have 90 minutes to spare. They did a pretty good job with it, all in all. In fact, I just might have to have a Fed CA painted up like theirs.

djdood · Post by **djdood** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 7:23 pm

It's been a while since I read your story Garth, but I do recall enjoying it.

OGOPTIMUS · Post by **OGOPTIMUS** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 7:48 pm

It's a great one. And I love the descriptions of the characters. You know who they're supposed to be, they're just not named as such.

mjwest · Post by **mjwest** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 2:05 am

Garth,

Who knows? Maybe they "stole" the idea from you!

Also, for totally clueless among us, exactly where would we find these fanflics?

djdood · Post by **djdood** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 3:11 am

Mike -

I'll make a post in the "Outside the SFU Realm" thread tonight with links to all of them. Maybe it can be made a sticky there, as the question seems to come up a lot (Joe Stevenson just asked what they were on the legacy bbs too).

Mike · Post by **Mike** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 3:11 am

Starship Exeter: http://homepage.mac.com/starshipexeter/

Starship Farragut: http://starshipfarragut.com/downloads.php

ST: Of Gods and Men: http://startrekofgodsandmen.com/main/

ST: New Voyages (Phase II): http://www.startreknewvoyages.com/