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An Open Letter To Paramount/Viacom
Paramount Pictures Corporation
5555 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90038
December 17, 1996
Gentlemen:
Your recent shutdown of a popular Star Trek website (www.stuniverse.com)
was undoubtable within your legal rights. However, simply because an action
is legal does not necessarily mean that it is beneficial. Your legal
department may fume over sites that use Star Trek material without
permission, but the fans that construct and visit these sites are your
customers: we are the ones who faithfully watch the shows (and the
advertisements), pay to see the feature films, purchase the videotapes and
laserdisks, collect the novels, and buy the toys for ourselves and our
kids. I've been a Star Trek fan since 1969 and my collection of things Trek
is something to see. You've made and will continue to make quite a bit of
money on me, and I don't begrudge you a dime of it. My son plays with Mr.
Data and Captain Pickard, not the latest Saturday-morning animated hero; my
daughter adores Captain Janeway and commands her own starship with Star
Trek Barbie and Ken. They represent the next generation of Trekkers -- and
they love to surf the web looking for Star Trek pages (both ours and
others). In my opinion, the popularity of Star Trek on the web serves to
amplify the popularity of Star Trek in the marketplace. I hope that you
will reconsider your position and accept that this popularity (and the
inevitable copyright violations and trademark abuses that accompany it)
goes hand in hand with the success of the Star Trek franchise. Let the fans
continue to celebrate the Star Trek universe on the web and make Star Trek
a success into the 21st century and beyond!
Respectfully,
John Goulden
jgoulden@flash.net