CBS, in an apparent effort to piss off literally every pre-STD fan, has now sent a cease and desist to the amazing creators of Stage 9, a free VR Enterprise experience.
Yes, yes, copyright holder blah blah derivative work blah blah. Screw that, this is dumber than the Axanar stuff. At least they could justify that due to money.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
The sad thing is, it’s not just about money. The bigger a fan project gets, the more professional it looks, it becomes more likely that it can be confused with the official Star Trek productions. Then CBS has to fight it, or risk losing protection of their copyrights. Because copyrights that aren’t protected aren’t enforceable, I guess.
I don’t entirely agree with the justification, but it’s how the system works.
Posted by Guardian 2000 (Member # 743) on :
That wasn't a danger here. More likely is that the legal team feels that the powers that be want to leave the option of a VR experience of their own later, just as Disney recently did.
Of course, an official VR thing probably won't happen, and even if it does it'll be for some other universe like JJ or STD anyway.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
That’s my point, though. They have to protect their copyright even if they’re not making something exactly like it. I don’t pretend to understand why they think it’s necessary to protect it in this way, of course. And I certainly don’t agree with it. But I don’t think they’re doing it for the reasons you’re arguing.
“Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.” — Hanlon’s Razor
Posted by Guardian 2000 (Member # 743) on :
Oh, so you took the opening humor seriously?
Not to kill the frog* here, but, no, no one actually believes that CBS suits sit around all day cooking up ways to quash fan expressions of enjoyment of Star Trek, or that they are intentionally trying to produce Star Trek branded entertainment products designed specifically to annoy the core fanbase. Even more specifically, given the nature of corporations, it is highly unlikely there is any individual or group in a role to both direct the creative suicide of STD while also commanding the legal side's activities.
However, as with jokes about government self-contradictions or conspiracy theories (usually also humorous, if unintentionally), the fact that all the involved parties under the same operational umbrella (e.g. "the US government", "CBS", et cetera) seem to be on the same inane course leaves them open to parody and satirization.
That is to say, I could've also said "in an apparent bid to waste as much money as possible, the US government has authorized forty million dollars to study how frogs react to knowledge of frog dissection jokes," if the latter was a thing. (Oh hell, I probably just gave them an idea.)
It doesn't actually mean I think they're trying to waste money. It's just that they're really effing good at doing so.
Regarding CBS, I have had great fun at their expense on Twitter in the aftermath, with such tweets as these:
quote: "Dear parents,
#CBS legal team members will be at your child's school today monitoring their doodling. Anything resembling a #StarTrek starship will result in a cease and desist letter being placed in your child's permanent file."
quote: "Dear #StarTrek modeling community,
This is a reminder from #CBS that scratch-built models are copyright infringement and will be punished with the full weight of bored lawyers coming after you."
quote: "Dear fanzine editor,
Desilu and Lincoln Enterprises have determined that your fanzine art violates our intellectual property. Please cease and desist all enjoyment of #StarTrek at once."
Now, just to be clear, I don't believe that CBS lawyers would stand around watching kids doodle. This is not to suggest that they wouldn't if there was money in doing so, nor am I suggesting that entertainment industry lawyers should be allowed within two hundred yards of children. It simply means that they're probably waiting for the advent of e-paper in schools so they can put DMCA recognition code in to automatically bill parents a licensing fee for a kid's starship doodles.
I even presaged your malice versus stupidity point, I would note, by noting that the Stage 9 C&D was "dumber" than the war on Axanar.
I am familiar with the "blah-blah", but the fact is that even if there is a solid legal reasoning behind their treatment of unmonetized fan projects, it still makes them look like asshats and opens them up to parody.
* "Why are you even looking at this?" - E.B. White
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
No, I wasn't taking your opening sarcasm literally. I think we're mostly on the same page here, we both agree it's a really stupid development.
But my point still stands, that the legal and commercial system of copyright and trademarks is inherently antithetical to the existence of practically every piece of fan-created art in existence. And as your joking quote suggests, this problem has existed since at least 1968.
Whenever a fan project starts making money, or when it starts getting really big and/or starts looking really official, that's when the lawyers get involved. This isn't a revelation.
The sad part is that the only solution is a total shutdown of something that fans have poured hours of their lives into creating, when there should be some sort of way to allow it to continue development/availability without compromising corporate interests.
(PS: If you're not listening to The Trek Files, you really should!)
Posted by Guardian 2000 (Member # 743) on :
My main problem is the "looking official" part, especially in regards to Stage 9, which only looked official inasmuch as it was damn good, and with the v.11 release would've been amazeballs thanks to less CGI-ish lighting.
Other than that, only a buffoon would've thought it was was a CBS product.
But anyway, I will give the podcast a listen. I haven't really found one that keeps my interest yet. (Star Wars podcasts are generally even worse, and they're at war with each other anyway.)
Posted by StarCruiser (Member # 979) on :
CBS needs to stop being stupid and recognize that so long as they aren't trying to make money from Star Trek, they aren't breaking any rules...
If they keep this up, they will loose all respect from any fans.
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
I think we're mostly on the same page here, we both agree it's a really stupid development.