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Didn't BSG do it's Blood and Chrome thing in like 10 small 5 minute episodes?

Wouldn't that be possible to do? Or are they not allowed continuity between them?

Assuming it's allowed, then you can have more semi-regular content, rather than 1 episode every year or something.

No.

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

No more then 2 parts per story, no more then 15 minutes per part. No other film can have continuity with another.

But if the same people wanted to make additional unrelated 15+15 minute films they can do that to an unlimited degree, this is not a lifetime cap. Worth remembering TNG episodes started as 45 minutes, but are often cut down to as little as 40 minutes in syndication.

Also the limit of 50,000 dollars on props and special effects is relevant, I don't think you can call something a fan enterprise if you want to spend more then that, and you certainly would be hard pressed to make a good film over 30 minutes on that restriction. But Paramount very reasonably could have said you can't pay anyone at all to work on fan films, that they had to be pure volunteer enterprises like I think most peoples definition of 'fan' would cover, and they did not.

Also, these are just the baseline guidelines.

There's nothing stopping anyone writing to them and asking for permission. I mean, these are just the de facto "anyone" rules, right?

So if you wanted to do a 30 minute or 40 minute etc thing, you could always *ask*, right?

Wasn't that a lot of Axanar's problems? They never actually asked, they just assumed and went in gung ho?

Maybe they'd say yes, if people were respectful and such.

From what I can tell the Axanar people DID ask, repeatedly, and Paramount decided to remain silent so Axanar eventually concluded 'well they didn't say No so we'll interpret that as a Yes' which is what got us into this mess.

Yea, the same batch of people could make a dozen 15+15 stories. Set 'em each on a different ship or station or what have you.

By the time you're ready to break the 50k barrier, you're ready to do your own thing. Like how Rooster Teeth started RWBY.

Batman wrote:From what I can tell the Axanar people DID ask, repeatedly, and Paramount decided to remain silent so Axanar eventually concluded 'well they didn't say No so we'll interpret that as a Yes' which is what got us into this mess.

Which... never assume yes ^^;;

Prometheus Unbound wrote:Also, these are just the baseline guidelines.

There's nothing stopping anyone writing to them and asking for permission. I mean, these are just the de facto "anyone" rules, right?

Nothing is stopping you no, Paramount can always grant you a license to do whatever in principle. But realistically that won't happen, they'd be accused of bias too much, and it could become a real legal complication concerning copyright law if they were not uniform. That's why they didn't want to say anything for so long in the first place.

Wasn't that a lot of Axanar's problems? They never actually asked, they just assumed and went in gung ho?

They asked, but Paramount realistically could not say yes, and I think given what Abrams said, and how long this dragged out they probably literally wished and hoped the production would just collapse under its own weight and spare them having to deal with it. Not the best way to handle it in my mind, but I do very much think they just wanted it to go away. Precisely because once rules exist they'll be their own problem.

Realistically I highly doubt Paramount will be going out of its way to enforce any of this, except blatant violations of the overall money cap. Back in the 1990s some fan film projects were pretty damn serious too and got threatened, but since none of them had a million bucks + prexisting legal contracts (this is what kickstarter is!) with backers it was much less of an issue.

Maybe they'd say yes, if people were respectful and such.

Its lawyers; that's kind of irrelevant. They say yes once, what about the 300 other equally devoted fan groups who want the same thing in 17 different countries? And then any group given a special license logically should be subject to actual checks that it's obeying the terms, and ect... it would cost them actual money and constant media attention I reckon.

Sea Skimmer wrote: Its lawyers; that's kind of irrelevant. They say yes once, what about the 300 other equally devoted fan groups who want the same thing in 17 different countries? And then any group given a special license logically should be subject to actual checks that it's obeying the terms, and ect... it would cost them actual money and constant media attention I reckon.

They say 'yes' to a 'fangroup' in the mix who turns out to be Warner Brothers. People would lose their jobs if that happened.