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By CARLOS PEDRAZA | MARCH 15, 2019 | 7 MIN READ
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The situation: That never-consummated merger between CBS and Viacom, which would re-unite the Star Trek franchise under one company looks to be moving closer to reality. Bankers and executives have identified $1 billion in "cost synergies" — newspeak for job losses. The two companies boards are negotiating, with an announcement expected before year's end.
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1. Hero Prop Makes Tactical Legal Move in Suit against Alec Peters and Propworx
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Original image/Propworx
The cover of a lavish auction catalog published by Alec Peters' Propworx company for 2010 Star Trek prop and costume auction — the same year as his ill-fated defamation suit against a critical blogger.
A defamation lawsuit long-forgotten by Axanar producer Alec Peters is coming back to haunt him in a new move by his legal opponent in the Nevada lawsuit over the sale of the Enterprise-E model.
- The plaintiff in the Nevada suit, Tiana Armstrong, is going after at least $13,000 in damages Peters owes but has never paid to a blogger who criticized his business practices.
- Peters sued Jason DeBord in 2010, claiming DeBord's Original Prop Blog had published defamatory articles about Peters and his company.
- Case thrown out: That case was thrown out after a judge found it was intended to stifle DeBord's right to free speech.
- Peters never paid the $26,000 in attorney's fees and court costs to DeBord and the blog (co-defendants). DeBord was personally owed $13,000.
- Purchased judgment: According to court documents filed in Nevada, Armstrong purchased DeBord's personal judgment, making him whole eight years since Peters' lawsuit was struck. (We'll make the documents available on AxaMonitor.com)
- Pursuing payment. The court documents also show that Armstrong is seeking to get a Georgia court to allow her to pursue the DeBord judgment directly from Peters.
Why it matters: Contacted by AxaMonitor, Armstrong would not comment on why she purchased DeBord's judgment. But a few possibilities emerge:
- Swaying the judge: Hero Prop's suit will be decided by a judge, Armstrong having waived a jury trial.
- Who owes whom: The judgment allows Armstrong to demonstrate going into trial that Peters owes her thousands of dollars.
- Forcing payment: Once the California judgment is allowed to be pursued against Peters in Georgia, he'll either have to pay it to resolve the long-ignored damages or let Armstrong use his non-payment at trial, and possibly to spotlight the hundreds of thousands of dollars Peters and Propworx owe many creditors, including his attorney in the lost case against DeBord.
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2. Peters' Bluster Brings a New Legal Challenge Worth $15,000 from Former Close Axanar Advisor
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Image/Shawn O'Halloran
And now, from Iowa, comes another legal problem producer Alec Peters needs to deal with in the wake of his lawsuit against former Axanar director Robert Meyer Burnett.
- Court documents. AxaMonitor has obtained court records filed Monday showing former Axanar PR director Mike Bawden, once Peters' closest advisor, wants Peters to finish paying back a $30,000 loan.
- Ignored warning. After Peters followed through on his threat to sue Burnett, Bawden warned Peters the lawsuit looks to end any possibility Bawden might forgive the debt.
- Promissory note: Among the documents is a promissory note from Peters promising to repay the 2016 loan — right in the middle of the CBS/Paramount copyright lawsuit against Axanar — of $30,000 by December 31, 2016.
- Short-term goes long: The loan was obviously meant to be short-term help during a time when Peters was bleeding money from his failed attempt to establish a commercial studio in California using donors' money meant for producing Axanar.
- Half repaid, interest compounding. Peters full repayment is almost three years late, though he paid $20,000 of the principal nearly two years late. The amount Peters still owes now includes 10 percent annual interest.
- Props and costume collateral. According to the promissory note, Peters secured the loan by putting up his once-voluminous prop and and costume collection as collateral. If he fails to pay up, Bawden will own part of that collection.
- Props possession ceded? Peters' promissory note requires him to hand over the collateral if he fails to pay all he owes by December 2016, a date he's already missed, or within 10 days of Bawden's formal demand …
"The security [Peters' props and costumes] will be immediately provided to the Lender [Bawden] and the Lender is granted all rights of repossession as a secured party."
- Adding to the total Peters owes, now that a formal petition for repayment has been filed in Iowa District Court, will be attorneys' fees and costs, something Peters agreed to in the promissory note. Those costs are now adding up.
The bottom line: Peters has 20 days from being served to respond or pay, or the court will enter a default judgment for the amount sought by Bawden, or the equivalent value from Peters' props and costumes.
Why it matters: This legal action is the latest in the growing amount of litigation in which Peters is involved. Despite his bluster in the Burnett case, his attorney has yet to file an affidavit Burnett was even formally served Peters' legal complaint, effectively stalling the suit indefinitely.
- Leaving loyalists. This case also exemplifies the growing dissatisfaction now being publicly aired by former Axanar loyalists, a growing list including two directors, an editor, screenwriter and fulfillment director (also Peters' former girlfriend), in addition to Bawden.
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Short Takes: Star Trek: Picard, Deep Space Nine revelations
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A peek at Picard. The next Star Trek show we'll see has finally gotten an official name — Star Trek: Picard — focusing on the famous Enterprise-D captain two decades after we last saw him. Screenrant's coverage includes a tiny peek via actor Patrick Stewart's Twitter at footage from the show, expected to debut later this year on CBS All Access in the U.S., and Amazon Prime internationally.
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UPFRONT PEEK Reporters got this quick look at some footage for Star Trek: Picard at CBS All Access' annual industry presentation of it new fall shows.
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Big DS9 reveals. What We Left Behind, the long-awaited Deep Space Nine documentary screened in special presentations in theaters across the United States on Monday. Among the revelations: What a season 8 premiere of the show might've looked like, Garak was gay, Paramount was no fan of the show being serialized — something common today but rare two decades ago — and Worf wasn't welcome (at first). Screenrant has more.
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Image/Star Trek Continues
Actor Vic Mignogna and his former fiancée, Michele Specht, on the set of Star Trek Continues.
The latest twists and turns in Vic Mignogna's defamation lawsuit against fellow voice actors and others he says have damaged his reputation with allegations of sexual misconduct. Mignogna, a well known anime voice actor and star of Star Trek Continues, got answers from some of those he's suing, while another has successfully avoided being served with legal papers. Bounding Into Comics has more.
Netflix may lose CW shows. You likely won't get to see all your favorite CW series on Netflix automatically anymore, according to Deadline. Since 2011, the sweetheart deal pumped $1 billion into the then-fledgling network's coffers. Signs are the deal won't be renewed. That doesn't mean you won't see any CW shows on the 'flix, it just own't be automatic. The CW is going to shop each show individually to the various streaming platforms.
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Find Us on Super Geeks
Join AxaMonitor editor Carlos Pedraza every week on the Super Geeks podcast, and Geek of Thrones review show, both on Subspace Radio, Mondays at 8 p.m. PST/11 p.m. EST. If you miss it live check the "rewind" section for recorded episodes. Super Geeks is hosted by George Silsby. Check out the Facebook page, The Real Super Geeks.
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