No Free Enterprise
Brand loyalty is something that companies pray for. But Paramount and its parent company, Viacom, believe that loyalty can be taken too far.
During the past several months, the Viacom legal department has dispatched cease-and-desist notices via certified mail to operators of Web sites dedicated to the just-released film "Star Trek: First Contact." The tersely worded legal notices asked that all "infringing materials" be removed from the free Web sites within 10 days. The letters were directed to sites that contained a detailed 13-paragraph synopsis of the upcoming movie -- including the ending -- or sites that had alleged fragments of the "Star Trek" script.
"For a company that thrives on creativity and freedom, such an austere policy on fan-created sites on the Internet was offensive," said Dean Paron, a 19-year-old student at the University of Illinois who received such a letter way back in August. "I'm not trying to make any money or take anything away from Paramount. Far from it, and if Paramount could realize what a powerful medium [this is], they might realize they are doing themselves more harm than good."
Paramount is not the first company to try to protect its copyrights on the Internet. The Fox network has gone after sites dedicated to the "X-Files" and "The Simpsons," asking for materials to be removed. Hormel has chased down Spamboy. Toys R Us took issue with Roadkills R Us. But no one company has apparently sent out the number of letters that Viacom has, particularly months before the movie was even released. Paramount and Viacom officials contacted would not comment on the record about their legal actions on the Web or the extent to which they monitor fan-operated Web sites.
Details of upcoming "Trek" movies are closely guarded. However, the synopsis for "First Contact," which a Paramount official confirmed is accurate, has been in circulation at least since June, less than two months after the movie began shooting. You have to hunt harder for the script, but that can even be found off the Net: An unsolicited complete copy of the second draft of the script appeared in the offices of WashingtonPost.com on old-fashioned slices of dead tree less than a month ago.
Operators of fan sites have been outraged by Paramount's reaction to the sites. Some Web page owners argued they were giving free publicity to the movie. Others said that die-hard Trekkies would still see the movie numerous times, whether or not they knew the plot months in advance. Site operators, reacting with the regard for authority characteristic of the Web, have even come to see the letter as a status symbol. Some posted the synopsis just to receive the legal notice from Viacom.
"I did it on purpose, in order to get their attention," said Michael Brown of Madison, Wis. "I wanted to be able to send them back a letter indicating that they are paranoid [expletives]."
-- Bill Frischling
Frisch@washpost.com