Star Wars FanFilm Monetised by Disney/Warner Chappell

[SckizoBoy]

Well... isn't this a pretty pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hiAI0IRC1c - TheQuartering's reporting on it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acPFPu_UZWE - creator's own announcement

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3LOEuhryMo - creator's follow up after being 'responded' to

As though the name of Star Wars could not be dragged through the mud even more.

Long and short of it was that Star Wars Theory (YT fan channel, obvs) reached out to LucasFilm to ask permission to make a fan film and get a revenue stream for it. They replied, said no, so he agreed and self-funded everything to produce a short film (episodic) which received a resounding reception. Warner Chappell (company that runs the music side of things) manually requested a copyright strike against the entire film even though they 'took issue' with just one bit of music (which, incidentally, the creator hired a composer to write a variation of the original theme for the film), had the video monetised and the revenue goes to the Disney umbrella. He responded, which then brought out the typical 'fuck you' corporate response. He's being rather pragmatic about it and doesn't want the trouble of disputing it believing he'd lose in any proceedings that occur.

Well, let's see where this goes... :/

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Yeah, nasty business. I highly doubt its the "Oh Disney is afraid that people will like fan films better than their own movies" thing that some people are trying to push, but its definitely a bastard move.

Also, why does one need permission to make a fan film? Was it purely because of the music used? (sorry I don't have the time to watch the videos).

 

[SckizoBoy]

Yeah, nasty business. I highly doubt its the "Oh Disney is afraid that people will like fan films better than their own movies" thing that some people are trying to push, but its definitely a bastard move.

Also, why does one need permission to make a fan film? Was it purely because of the music used? (sorry I don't have the time to watch the videos).

Luckily, it was resolved today, but not very satisfactorily. LucasFilm stepped in and said that they had an agreement that now Disney/WarnerChappel have messed with, and SWT is grateful the strike's been removed (and the video de-monetised), but people are still pissed that the revenue made up until this point remains with Disney (drop in the ocean for them, though it may be, but it's the principle of it).

Technically, SWT didn't 'need' permission at all, but he asked for it nonetheless cos it meant that much to him. However, he did want to make some money from it because it was going to be expensive as hell to pay for, and it wasn't about the music (as mentioned, he paid for another creator to write the music which was more or less a cover of John Williams' work which was what Warner Chappel took issue with). So he asked LucasFilm whether he could make money from it (because of the whole profiting from another party's IP) and they replied with a polite 'no' (in relative terms compared to Disney at least). In the end, he made it anyway despite not being able to get paid for his work cos he just wanted to make it.

 

[CaitSeith]

*sigh*

Spoiler: Disney being Disney...

That aside, if Lucasfilm already had said no, then this was the expected result. He knew the risks, took measures for it and Disney exploited a loophole. Business as usual.

 

[Trunkage]

Yeah, nasty business. I highly doubt its the "Oh Disney is afraid that people will like fan films better than their own movies" thing that some people are trying to push, but its definitely a bastard move.

Also, why does one need permission to make a fan film? Was it purely because of the music used? (sorry I don't have the time to watch the videos).

The fan movie is using the setting and characters? So if Disney doesn't defend against them, they lose the IP

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Yeah, nasty business. I highly doubt its the "Oh Disney is afraid that people will like fan films better than their own movies" thing that some people are trying to push, but its definitely a bastard move.

Also, why does one need permission to make a fan film? Was it purely because of the music used? (sorry I don't have the time to watch the videos).

The fan movie is using the setting and characters? So if Disney doesn't defend against them, they lose the IP

I've seen dozens of fan films though, many of them Star Wars too. I can't recall anyone ever kicking up a storm about them before.