Posted: 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?
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?
