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Activision sues Viacom because Star Trek sucks
Talk about weird lawsuits...
Activision, maker of Star Trek video games,
has filed a lawsuit against Viacom, parent company
of Paramount, for violation of contract. Activision claims that due to the
decline of ratings for shows such as Enterprise, lack of initiative on
Paramount's part to create another feature movie, their ten year contract that
was signed in 1998 is
devalued.
In their own words they claim that "through its actions and inactions, Viacom has let the once proud Star Trek franchise stagnate and decay." Harsh words that might have some merit if it was in Paramount's control how many people tune in.
Their claims however are based on the assumption that "Viacom also has allowed two 'Star Trek' television series to go off the air," which is hardly a fair statement. As The Next Generation's run time was 7 seasons, Activision must have know that the other shows Voyager and Deep Space Nine, will not continue indefinitely.
How much merit the claim has that "Viacom also frustrated Activision’s efforts to coordinate the development and marketing of its games with Viacom’s development and marketing of its new movies and television series" is hard to decide. Tampa, for example has been plastered with billboards for Enterprise along the high traffic I275, which runs straight through the city.
The kicker though is this one: “By failing and refusing to continue to exploit and support the Star Trek franchise as it had promised, Viacom has significantly diminished the value of Star Trek licensing rights including the rights received by Activision. Moreover, in so doing, Viacom has breached a fundamental term of its agreement with Activision ... and has caused Activision significant damage.”
Are they actually suggesting that more people would watch Star Trek if there had been a movie every year and 3 shows on the air? That statement is ridiculous as ratings would not doubt have plummeted even worse, and box office takings would have been even less, as the market would have been even more saturated.
The funny side of the story: This will force a court of law to decide if Star Trek currently sucks or not. ;-)
(via TrekToday)
In their own words they claim that "through its actions and inactions, Viacom has let the once proud Star Trek franchise stagnate and decay." Harsh words that might have some merit if it was in Paramount's control how many people tune in.
Their claims however are based on the assumption that "Viacom also has allowed two 'Star Trek' television series to go off the air," which is hardly a fair statement. As The Next Generation's run time was 7 seasons, Activision must have know that the other shows Voyager and Deep Space Nine, will not continue indefinitely.
How much merit the claim has that "Viacom also frustrated Activision’s efforts to coordinate the development and marketing of its games with Viacom’s development and marketing of its new movies and television series" is hard to decide. Tampa, for example has been plastered with billboards for Enterprise along the high traffic I275, which runs straight through the city.
The kicker though is this one: “By failing and refusing to continue to exploit and support the Star Trek franchise as it had promised, Viacom has significantly diminished the value of Star Trek licensing rights including the rights received by Activision. Moreover, in so doing, Viacom has breached a fundamental term of its agreement with Activision ... and has caused Activision significant damage.”
Are they actually suggesting that more people would watch Star Trek if there had been a movie every year and 3 shows on the air? That statement is ridiculous as ratings would not doubt have plummeted even worse, and box office takings would have been even less, as the market would have been even more saturated.
The funny side of the story: This will force a court of law to decide if Star Trek currently sucks or not. ;-)
(via TrekToday)
Posted at 07:38 EST Filed under:
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Total entries in this category: 9
Published On: Sep 20, 2003 02:05
Total entries in this category: 9
Published On: Sep 20, 2003 02:05