Activision Sues Viacom Over 'Star Trek' License

[AyuRocks]

Activision Sues Viacom Over 'Star Trek' License

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Video game publisher Activision Inc. on Tuesday said it sued Viacom Inc. over its "Star Trek" license, alleging Viacom let the franchise deteriorate by not promoting the TV series or making new movies or TV shows.

Activision said it terminated its pact with Viacom and was seeking damages.

Viacom shares off were 76 cents at $42.90 on the New York Stock Exchange (news - web sites), and Activision slipped 17 cents at $12.70 on Nasdaq.

A Viacom spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

While licensing disputes are common in the games business, it is rare for such disputes to escalate into a lawsuit. The only other major publisher in such a dispute is Acclaim Entertainment Inc., which has been sued by professional bike rider Dave Mirra over the misuse of his name.

In the complaint filed in Superior Court in Los Angeles on Monday, Activision said Viacom's "critical failure to perform" included not releasing "Star Trek" films from 1998-2002 and allegedly deciding recently not to make any more "Star Trek" films or TV shows.

Under the 1998 licensing agreement, Activision agreed to pay $20 million in royalties plus millions of dollars worth of stock warrants to license the "Star Trek" name.

The "Star Trek" franchise has spawned multiple TV series, books and films. However, the most recent film, "Star Trek: Nemesis," was a box-office dud, and the latest TV show, "Enterprise (news - web sites)," has struggled in the ratings.

"A continuing pipeline of movie and television production, and related marketing, is absolutely crucial to the success of video games based on a property such as Star Trek," the company said in a statement. "However, through its actions and inactions, Viacom has let the once proud Star Trek franchise stagnate and decay."

Activision's Web site lists 10 "Star Trek" game titles, including the most recent, "Star Trek: Elite Force II," released last week.

Activision said it did not expect the suit or license termination to materially affect its guidance for the fiscal first quarter or year.

In the suit, Activision said it has already paid $11 million in royalties under the terms of the 10-year deal in addition to providing stock warrants that Viacom has exercised for revenue in excess of $10 million.

The suit asks for damages and a so-called constructive trust over the warrants to keep Viacom from selling them.


Fools. Nice timing! Viacom is looking to buy Skiffy which would be a great outlet for the license. DUH.

Ashley

[vacantlook]

[entertainment industry company whine]It's their fault we're not doing well as a company. It has nothing to do with the products we're putting out it all has to do with what other people should be doing. If they did what we say they should do then we'd make more money. We're not gonna attempt to be original or use talent of our own to try and improve our company, we expect other companies to do it for us.[/whine]

Sometimes the entertainment industry really reveals exactly how little sense they have, methinks. Maybe they should concentrate on producing great games instead of bitching that others aren't giving them the material to shove into a game.

<sigh>

[Selena]

Pity no-one is suing Skiffy. We could replace a few choice words and come up with ...

... their inaction in letting "the franchise deteriorate by not promoting the TV series or making new movies or TV shows."

And their "critical failure to perform" and " ... through its actions and inactions," Skiffy "has let the once proud" Farscape "franchise stagnate and decay."


Someone check out that course on Litigara!
:think:

[BillFrugge]

It isn't Viacom that is damaging the Trek franchise, it's Trek itself!

TNG ran 7 long years, then we had DS9, Voyager, and now Enterprise! We're getting sick of it! What was left of Trek went with Gene's ashes.

Anyway, the last movie was a bomb, and less people are going to the theaters to watch that dren. Can't those actors find other jobs?

For the record, I'm a Trekkie from back when all we had was 3 seasons worth of reruns.

[DRD2001]

This is BS. These issues date back to 1998. Apparently they are upset that there was a long spell between movies and that now there is Enterprise, not Star Trek's Enterprise. HA! With 10 Star Trek computer games out, can anyone tell me one that was great. Armada was alright and Elite Force is suppose to be good, but some of the games were just flat out dren. Activision needs to make a really good games first, because I won't buy it unless it gets good reviews.

[Darth Buddha]

Star Trek was pretty impressive for a lot of years.

My feeling is that the series has lost a lot since Rodenberry died in terms of vision, and has suffered a gradual loss of hard "science fiction" that has been replaced by more "soap opera" type plots.

That is to say, lots of character drama, but without the kind of character arc that was present for Worf or Captain Picard in TNG. The characters in Voyager, for example, basically didn't change.

So you have less scifi to rely on, and character based plots for characters that don't change. BORING!

[vhsiv]

character based plots for characters that don't change Buddha, isn't that an oxymoron?

[Javora]

Originally posted by AyuRocks
Fools. Nice timing! Viacom is looking to buy Skiffy which would be a great outlet for the license. DUH.

Ashley


Good point.


Originally posted by vacantlook
[entertainment industry company whine]It's their fault we're not doing well as a company. It has nothing to do with the products we're putting out it all has to do with what other people should be doing. If they did what we say they should do then we'd make more money. We're not gonna attempt to be original or use talent of our own to try and improve our company, we expect other companies to do it for us.[/whine]

Sometimes the entertainment industry really reveals exactly how little sense they have, methinks. Maybe they should concentrate on producing great games instead of bitching that others aren't giving them the material to shove into a game.

<sigh>


I don't think that is exactly correct. Activision can only put content out to the public that comes from TV shows, movies, books, etc. Anything that is original cannot have the "Trek" name on it. Also Activision is more of a publisher than a video game maker. The actual game is contracted out to programming companies. Then Activision takes that game program and burns it onto a CD, puts it in a box and gets the games onto store shelves.

What Activision is saying is that the content from Star Trek franchise is no longer a viable vehicle to base video games off of due to the way Viacom has handled Star Trek. To some extent I think Activision is correct. Berman & Braga IMHO has done more to drive the Trek franchise into the ground than anything else I can think of. But then again Activision had to know that Star Trek has had an up and down past (mostly down as of late). So Activision known or should have known that this deal was a risk.


I think that Activision gambled and lost and now are trying to find some way to recoup their losses since Activision seemingly doesn't know how to do that with what Activision has to work with. Someone from my home forum said "In other words, many who've whispered that Activision had no clue how to handle the Trek gaming franchise will now say this is nothing more than the driver blaming their driver's licensing board because they ran the car into a ditch". And I think he hit the nail on the head. I also agree with the people who have said that Activision has some management issues as well. Activision has a running policy that they will allow one patch release per game. Activision will break that policy if and only if it suits Activision, and not for the benefit of its customers.



Originally posted by BillFrugge
It isn't Viacom that is damaging the Trek franchise, it's Trek itself!


Yep, like I said B & B has to go. :grr:


Originally posted by DRD2001
This is BS. These issues date back to 1998. Apparently they are upset that there was a long spell between movies and that now there is Enterprise, not Star Trek's Enterprise. HA! With 10 Star Trek computer games out, can anyone tell me one that was great.


Agreed, these issues have been around for a while and Activision should have known that. The only thing I will add is that I think Activision was hoping for Ship based fighting Sims taken from Enterprise series. But with the ship/species balancing issues the only thing Activision can really produce from the Enterprise series is First Person Shooters games. Really isn't much left to do, at least not based off the new series with Elite Force II already out there.

I thought that OP was a great game but then that was produced by Interpuke errr... Interplay. :D

Edit: You can read more about this here:

http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,12085,00.html

[generic_screenname]

You know, I can think of a possible franchise that's NOT stale...

[Darth Buddha]

Originally posted by vhsiv
Buddha, isn't that an oxymoron?

I guess that was sort of my point.

We have this "transformation" of a Star Trek character, some major event, but next week, they aren't any different.

However, thinking back, the Voyager characters of Tom Paris and B'lonna Tores changed and stayed that way. So too some of the characters in DS9. However, I feel the characters in Enterprise made little progress.

And Voyager would have character based plots that lead to no change. The Doctor, for example, changed, but then could still be the same original Doctor anytime the script required it. Very frustrating to watch.

[LtColKiraNerys]

Even if Viacom scores a victory in this lawsuit their reputation's going to go right down the old toilet, and they'll be looking for a scapegoat to blame for the whole thing. Care to guess who it's going to be?:ewink:

[Captain Robert April]

Who gets blamed depends on who's doing the talking.

Activision will blame Viacom for not keeping the Trek profile high enough and what they do put out is crap.

Viacom will deny there's a problem at all, at least in public.

Rick Berman, accompanied by his pet monkey Braga, will blame the fans for not supporting his substandard dren and daring to question his expertise/intelligence/parentage/fil in the blank.

Me, I blame Rygel. Just because.:D

[vhsiv]

Originally posted by Captain Robert April
Activision will blame Viacom for not keeping the Trek profile high enough and what they do put out is crap.

Viacom will deny there's a problem at all, at least in public.

Rick Berman, accompanied by his pet monkey Braga, will blame the fans for not supporting his substandard dren and daring to question his expertise/intelligence/parentage/fill in the blank. And since 'stuff' tends to flow downhill, it will culminate in the plug being pulled on the SciFi Channel, (and give Bonnie H. an easy out) when the 'conventional wisdom' determines that there is neither a place nor $$$ for science-fiction on television.

And everyone here on this board will have to content themselves with trading tapes for the next 5 or 6 years - the length of time between 'Star Trek:TOS' and 'Space 1999'.

In the meantime, 'Knight Rider' will be revived as both a series and a film franchise, starring none other than the original series' star, David Hasselhof. Millions will 'self-terminate' overnight, allowing the overlords to finally claim their victory over intelligent television.

[vhsiv]

from: http://www.cinescape.com/0/editorial.asp?aff_id=0&this_cat=Games&action=page&type_id=&cat_id=270351&obj_id=39051

Today Viacom fired back. The following press release just crossed the newswire:

"Viacom Consumer Products is disappointed by Activision's filing of a lawsuit yesterday in light of the fruitful collaboration the parties have enjoyed for the last nearly 5 years. During their collaboration, Activision has produced 14 Star Trek themed products, including a tie-in to the release of the 10th Star Trek film, NEMESIS, just last year. Activision's allegations are without merit; indeed, Activision appears to be trying to use the courts in an effort to renegotiate a deal it made in 1998 to secure the rights to the valued Star Trek franchise for interactive games.

"Star Trek continues to enjoy widespread popularity and success throughout the world. Activision's assertions and claims in its filing are manifestly unfounded as one can learn by simply turning on a television set or walking into a book, game or video store.

"Star Trek is perhaps the greatest intellectual property franchise ever to emerge from television. It began its run on television over 36 years ago and consists of 5 TV series with more than 650 episodes to date; ten feature films; over 48 million videocassettes sold; over a quarter billion dollars in DVD sales at retail in just the past two years; over 500 books published, as well as a themed attraction; traveling exhibitions and numerous licensed products. The current series, Enterprise, will be going into its 3rd season on UPN this fall. The various Star Trek series are licensed to more than 200 television stations throughout the country. Star Trek properties are shown regularly on the cable networks TNN, The Sci-Fi channel and Showtime, and are distributed in over 80 countries worldwide.

"Viacom Consumer Products is disappointed that Activision has elected this course and intends to hold it fully responsible for its action."

Activision has not released a follow-up comment to Viacom's rebuttal.

[Javora]

Originally posted by generic_screenname
You know, I can think of a possible franchise that's NOT stale...

And I suggested that idea to a couple of CEO’s of gaming developer companies when the topic came up on their forums. I'm just hoping that little bug I put in their ear will have them calling Henson.

[Javora]

Here's is another article from Wired News about the Activision suit:

http://www.wired.com/news/games/0%2C2101%2C59486%2C00.html

It's a two page article so I won't copy the whole thing over.

[LtColKiraNerys]

Whether Viacom wins this case or not, I'd say that they are frelled anyway. The fact that Activision felt compelled to file suit against them is going to be like a big neon sign to secondary market companies like Art Asylum that Viacom can't be trusted to put out a product that will guarantee sales for them. IMO, even Viacom's countersuit against Activision won't be able to prevent this, so Viacom will most likely go after those responsible for the failure of Star Trek to generate those sales in the first place--Rick Berman and Brannon Braga.

[BillFrugge]

Berman and Braga are washed up. They were given Trek and have driven it into the ground with their lack of ideas. The audience has moved on, and Trek hasn't grown with the rest of us. If they don't move on, they're only wasting the time producing more Trek that fewer people will watch.

Activision is wasting money in an attempt to fund their company through litigation. They're sales are down, and like the RIAA, they're trying to make it up in the only way they can. What other games besides Trek do Activision make?

[Javora]

Originally posted by BillFrugge
Berman and Braga are washed up. They were given Trek and have driven it into the ground with their lack of ideas. The audience has moved on, and Trek hasn't grown with the rest of us. If they don't move on, they're only wasting the time producing more Trek that fewer people will watch.

Activision is wasting money in an attempt to fund their company through litigation. They're sales are down, and like the RIAA, they're trying to make it up in the only way they can. What other games besides Trek do Activision make?

Yeah Paramount needs to give Berman and Braga the boot. They killed Enterprise with that time warp junk. As for what games Activision makes you can download a list from the http://www.activision.com/en_US/home/home.jsp (Activision) web site. Just move the mouse pointer over the "Games" option at the top of the screen and a "Download List" option should pop up. But you can get a good idea just from the front page.

[BillFrugge]

Crikey! No wonder! They don't have much of anything to offer besides Trek based games...

You know, it's supposed to be the game company making money off of the movie/television series. Not the Studios being subordinate to the game company...

[Captain Robert April]

Well, Star Trek's been running kinda backasswards for a whlie now.