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Copyrights and Paramount


I was passed on this interesting official message from Paramount. Many
rumors have proliferated on the subject of whether or not Paramount would
attempt to shut down the tons of web sites which infringe on its Star Trek
copyright. I guess they have given up on attempting to even make a dent in
the multitude. I thought y'all might find it interesting.
The info is from the "Stardate" mailing list.

Erika


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  PARAMOUNT LETTER

   The following is a letter to Star Trek fans in response to fans
concerned about Paramount's recent legal action against a few fan Trek WWW
sites. Here is the text of the letter:

        Dear Star Trek fan,
        Recently, many of you have expressed concerns about a small number
of letters Paramount sent to Webmasters who were in significant violation
of Star Trek copyrights on the Web - a step taken to protect Star Trek
copyrights and properties, which are of great value to us. Some of you
have fundamental disagreements with this action; many of you have
expressed concern; and others may have misunderstood what is being done.
So we'd like to explain clearly and plainly what is going on and why -
and, perhaps more important, what is not going on and why. 
        We understand fans' desire to communicate and share information
about Star Trek and we support fan-created Web sites. 
        Paramount has not asked any site to "shut down"; it has asked Star
Trek Webmasters who are either selling ads or collecting fees, selling
illegal merchandise, or posting copyrighted materials on their sites to
refrain from these specific activities. 
        We have no plans to write to the thousands of individuals [sic]
sites which are not abusing the Star Trek copyrights. 
        To the extent possible, we want to give Star Trek fans the
information and materials they want. To that end, we combined our
resources and expertise with Microsoft's to create the most complete Star
Trek site possible.  Portions of the official Star Trek site, Star Trek:
Continuum, are available to the web at large via the URL's
http://startrek.msn.com and http://www.paramount.com. 
        In situations where Paramount feels that it must enforce its
copyrights by requesting that material be removed from Web sites, it acts
not only on its own behalf, but also to protect the interests of the
creative community.  Paramount works closely with the many talented
actors, writers, directors, musicians, artistic designers, and others who
make Star Trek possible. They expect Paramount to protect the integrity of
their creative efforts, as well as the economic value of those properties
on which they depend to make their living. 
        We look forward to your continued communications and appreciate
your consideration of these issues. 

        Sincerely,
        David Wertheimer
        President, Paramount Digital Entertainment
        dwertheimer@pdent.paramount.com

  The Stardate web page is located at http://www.aplus.com/seth/stardate/
   Check it out!

  Star Trek, Star Trek: Voyager, and all related items are registered
trademarks of Paramount Pictures. There is no intention on my part to
infringe on any copyrights. 

 *****************************************************************************