BREAKING: Paramount Has Likely Acquired StarTrekBeyond.com

trekbeyondcom

The URL www.StarTrekBeyond.com, has now been registered in the ICANN database by brand protection company MarkMonitor, the same company used by Paramount to register the official Star Trek Movie website www.StarTrekMovie.com, www.areyouthe1701.com, and other Paramount properties.

StarTrekBeyond.com Registered
A WHOIS search of the public ICANN database reveals that the URL www.StarTrekBeyond.com changed hands today from Michael Chang Gummelt, creator of the now titled “Star Trek Uncharted” fan series concept, to MarkMonitor, a brand protection company used by Paramount. MarkMonitor’s job is essentially to protect a company buying a URL (or other digital asset) and to make sure similar domain names aren’t registered by someone else. Studios often choose not to release the official title for a film before such digital assets are secured, as “domain name resellers” could otherwise move to buy up domain names related to the production with the intention of reselling them to the studio for a hefty fee.

Paramount uses MarkMonitor to protect a number of its properties, including the official Star Trek movie website StarTrekMovie.com, AreYouThe1701.com, TerminatorMovie.com, TransformersMovie.com, and more.

Perhaps now that StarTreBeyond.com has changed hands, and that the official start of production in Vancouver is tomorrow, Paramount will announce the official title for the film sometime soon. Then again, perhaps not. As of now, the domain shows only a 404 Error page. Eventually, it will probably redirect to the official StarTrekMovie.com site.

Star Trek Beyond: The official title?
This seems to be the final nail in the coffin that the official title of Star Trek XIII will be Star Trek Beyond. The first indication that this would be the film’s title was reported in a TrekMovie exclusive when the title was registered with the Motion Picture Association of America in April. Shortly thereafter it was mentioned as the name of the film by writer/star Simon Pegg on his blog. Paramount is remaining tight-lipped about anything related to the production or promotion of the film, for which production is just kicking off in Vancouver.

Star Trek Beyond/Uncharted Fan Pitch
TrekMovie’s exclusive story that Michael Chang Gummelt, a fan not involved in the film industry, was invited by Paramount to pitch a series stirred up a strong reaction from many of our readers. Inquisitive Trekkies instantly noted two oddities also mentioned in the article: 1. Paramount doesn’t solicit pitches from anyone, Hollywood insider or not; and 2. Paramount doesn’t even have the rights to produce a television series. CBS does. Additionally, the timing of the name change of Michael Gummelt’s “Star Trek Beyond” to “Star Trek Uncharted” (and accompanied change in URL) seemed too coincidental for a deal between Gummelt and Paramount not to be in the works.

When asked whether the opportunity to pitch Star Trek Uncharted came in return for the StarTrekBeyond.com domain name, Michael Gummelt declined to comment.



 

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Sounds like they are moving forward… No word on a script being accepted or anything…interesting.

i want to beyond you.

I WANT TO BEYOND YOU!

Well, it looks like Gummelt drank the kool-aid.

Sucker.

TrekCore reporting on commencement of filming :)

3. Harry Ballz – June 24, 2015

Well, come on, now…

Taking part in a quid pro quo isn’t necessarily a bad thing, so long as you know what you’re trading for. An opportunity to pitch his series is still an opportunity, notwithstanding that Paramount would be acting as a producer selling the show to CBS.

If the show is good enough, and Paramount sees the value in it, they could totally take MCG on board and pitch his show to CBS. Maybe it’s a long shot…there’s not enough information to know either way…but, it’s definitely feasible. Too much has been made of the fact that CBS is the “Star Trek” copyright holder. Who has a closer relationship with CBS than Paramount? Paramount pitching CBS the series is totally realistic…if they’re interested.

@5 Cygnus-X1

I take your point.

Also, let’s face it, the website name could have been yanked away from him at any time for legal reasons.

Yep. Just as I postulated.

Disinvited, this is for you:

http://www.thehulltruth.com

Link may not be working, but it’s a serving of crow. lol

:-))

Whoops !!!!!

# 5. Cygnus-X1 – June 24, 2015

” Taking part in a quid pro quo isn’t necessarily a bad thing…” — Cygnus-X1

I’ll tell you one thing it most definitely isn’t: a lawyer fueled forced ISP grab that Michael Gummelt in his naivety would surprisingly discover overnight, that was predicted to Michael’s face when he had the temerity to point out that what Prodigal Son had said Paramount could do, could NOT in fact occur.

# 7. Prodigal Son – June 25, 2015

” Yep. Just as I postulated.”

Any body can make a claim.

Supply the exact quote, date and location of this supposed postulation that you believe is confirmed.

I Suspect they want to avoid conflict of Rights. I cant understand the following…Does Paramount want to create TV Star Trek, what about CBS? Can anyone clarify? Thanks..

“Inquisitive Trekkies instantly noted two oddities also mentioned in the article: 1. Paramount doesn’t solicit pitches from anyone, Hollywood insider or not; and 2. Paramount doesn’t even have the rights to produce a television series. CBS does.”

Yet there is no attempt in this article to address either of these two points, or any reference to having asked Paramount about this.

Sounds like the Gummelt pitch story is all washed up.

Star Trek 3: The Wrath Of Joe Stains

Wow

It does seem like Paramount just wanted that URL, and they let Gummelt make his wild claims in exchange for him handing it over to them…

I love the way “presumption” is so easily substituted for any real first-hand knowledge.

Can”t let facts get in the way of any good, solid, first-hand speculation:)

Hell, if Paramount offered me a chance to pitch a series for a domain name, I’d do it! Good for him, I say.

Anyway, I did hear that Paramount will not have a formal presence at Comic-Con this year, but I wonder if they will still have an announcement of sorts online or something during that time.

Wow, so you mean the “speculation” (aka Pegg calling it Star Trek Beyond outright) was confirmed to be correct?

Oh wow, what an exciting reveal!! The great debate between whether the movie will be called Star Trek Beyond or be called Star Trek Beyond is complete! I’m so relieved! /s

Unfortunately, it seems with this exciting reveal that Paramount marketing has run out of movie buzz points. Maybe they could actually reveal something substantive about the movie this time. But I guess they figure the production company creating environment controversy in a provincial park is conversation fodder enough.

I still think Star Trek PMS (Paramount’s Marketing Stupidity) is the more appropriate title.

@Ahmed @Cygnus-X1 @Disinvited

On the informative side, this does provide more evidence that Pegg was probably telling the truth about the (probably creativity-stifling) Paramount script directives (more like popular movies, less Star Trek-ky, etc.) for his Star Trek PMS script, since he also was telling the truth about the title.

Kayla, “final nail in the coffin” would mean that ‘Star Trek Beyond’ was NOT being used as the title! You should revise that passage.

Maybe it’s in fact called “Star Trek 404 Error.”

That would accurately indicate just how active the franchise owners have been since STID was released on home video.

This stinks of nothing more than a URL grab…

@6. Harry Ballz,
“the website name could have been yanked away from him at any time for legal reasons.”

Actually no, it couldn’t. There’s a very specific process a trademark holder has to follow in order to prove such a website infringes on their trademarks, and while CBS/Paramount might eventually be able to legally secure the URL, it would hardly be “yanked”.

And the reality is that the title “Star Trek Beyond” (titles are not copyrightable), could describe the act of “star treking” which the titles of the current movies are blurring the lines between trademark and common speech. If MCG’s series changed some names and designs, the concept could exist under that title without violating any Trademarks, and thus he could likely hold that web domain without any threat of CBS/Paramount’s intervention. But that’s not what he was doing.

Of course the real reason it wouldn’t happen that way is because CBS/Paramount has no desire to generate bad press by bullying a fan out of a website they don’t need. Most movie URLs are generally in the form “startrekbeyondmovie.com”, so owning the movie’s URL really gets them very little. It might avoid some confusion since MCG uses current actor’s pictures to demo his concept, but that probably wouldn’t confuse people for long. Still better to politely ask than to try the long drawn out process to make a grab for the URL that would generate tons of negative publicity.

Funny that Michael would decline to comment on whether there was an arrangement made when clearly there was. Why not just admit it?

So what if the only reason you’re getting to pitch the studio is in return for giving up the domain? Its still a trade for value. If it was me, I’d likely take a pay off depending on how much it is. but theres more gratification in the pitch if you’re a fan who’s spent a lot of time and energy on your vision.

I just hope paramount are respectful and arent looking at this as a scenario where they feel like they duped a fan into giving up the domain for free for a pretend pitch session.

@22 TUP,

The exact arrangement is likely confidential, and cannot be discussed with third parties, and especially the media. This kind of thing sets a dangerous precedent which encourages domain name squatting. He likely got more than the opportunity to pitch his show to Paramount. Honestly, considering the website has everything anyone could need to decide whether to produce the show, I’m not sure what a “pitch” gets anyone, except a face to face meeting.

# 11. Elias Javalis – June 25, 2015

It’s merely pursuing the continuation of a strategy they initiated early in 2014 to dig “… into its film vault for recognizable material to be adapted as TV series.”:

http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/urban-cowboy-tv-craig-brewer-fox-1201507267/

And consider that it all started with this BEVERLY HILLS COP television series development:

http://deadline.com/2013/07/paramount-eddie-murphy-revving-on-new-installment-of-beverly-hills-cop-550909/

“The project, written by Shawn Ryan and executive produced by Murphy and Ryan, ignited a bidding war before landing at CBS last fall where it went to a pilot starring Brandon T. Jackson as Axel’s son. Murphy reprised his role in a scene-stealing turn that had people talking. It showed that the character and Murphy’s portrayal are still pretty potent. The pilot was produced by Sony Pictures TV, with Paramount, as rights holder, coming on board after the pilot green light for what the company billed as its re-entry into television. (Paramount is restarting a TV production operation.) For whatever reason, Paramount-CBS politics or pilot testing depending who you ask, the project shockingly did not go to series. But it drew enough attention to the franchise to spawn a new movie.” — “Paramount, Eddie Murphy Revving On New Installment Of ‘Beverly Hills Cop’”; by Mike Fleming Jr and Nellie Andreeva; DEADLINE.COM; July 27, 2013 2:48pm

But they still don’t have startrekthemovie@gmail.com

That’s me!

Call me if you want the email address, Justin! You are worthy of it.
And it would be my little gift back to Trekdom.

Why not: Start Trek BEYOND ANTARES ??? Could have a catchy theme song

# 23. Curious Cadet – June 25, 2015

Don’t know if Gummelt’s interested in anything else but if he’s secured the rights to document the process to the extent that the lawyers will allow, he could probably make an interesting documentary about the whole thing. If not that then maybe a book or at the very least inspiration for a scene in some future video game.

I don’t think we’re ever going to get all the details on this agreement between MCG and Paramount. Both sides probably agreed to keep most of the inner workings private.

The pitch session was merely a courtesy call on the part of Paramount to get the domain name. We can’t really be sure how confident MCG ever was of getting his pitch turned into a pilot even though he posted how excited he was when he met with the studio runners.

Update from TrekCore

================================

TREK 3 Production Starts June 25: “Washington” Filming Notices Up in Canadian National Park

Project “Washington,” the now-well-known codename for Star Trek Beyond, is taking over the Stawamus Chief Provincial Park for several days over the next week, as the above public notice advises park visitors.

This park visit isn’t sitting well with some local residents, however, as CBC News is reporting claims of “cut down trees” and “spray painted boulders” by the “Washington” pre-production team which has been on site for the last two weeks.

While the production company has valid permits for filming in the park, the British Columbia Parks staff is investigating these allegations of environmental damage.

http://trekcore.com/blog/2015/06/trek-3-filming-squamish-boulders/

If Im Paramount and Im truly interested in developing a TV show, I wouldnt be inviting fans to pitch. I wouldnt want any connection to any idea that might remotely be considered “related” if I made a TV series later.

I wonder if Michael gives up rights to the concept as part of this.

I cant imagine CBS wanting to “go into the future” with a series. The most revenue Trek has made came on the backs of TOS characters. Thats where the money is.

@ 32. Ahmed – June 25, 2015

We are still talking about that back in the actor photos TM article. :P

The final nail in the coffin for the title ST:Beyond?? Come on now, it isn’t that bad a title….

It would be a tip off that the previously mentioned pitch for a TV series of the same title will be based in the new universe as well. Makes for a seamless transition….

Like every other Trek movie that has come down the line, I remain hopeful…

@33. TUP,
“I wonder if Michael gives up rights to the concept as part of this.”

By definition no one holds any rights to the concept as it relates to Star Trek, since all the underlying copyrights apply to derivative works. CBS could indeed grab that without so much as blinking and eye. The concept itself as a space-based drama without being integrated into the Star Trek universe is another matter, since you can’t copyright an idea. But as it stands, if it were to ever be commercially produced, yes CBS could just take it, so long as they paid royalties to the creator, who can prove any new productions were based on his exact concept, which itself was not based on prior art, and that’s a hard one to do considering the similarities of this project to previously produced Star Trek.

All of the underlying copyrights to Paramount’s BR Trek are owned by CBS, which is why CBS can freely license and use them, so as long as royalties are paid to the creators of the original elements, most if not all of which are dictated by producer’s contracts and guild mandates, something MCG previously lacked.

Indeed if one were to protect an original concept for Star Trek, they would be advised to develop it separate from the Trek universe while making it easily transplantable into it.

Kind of disappointed to see Trekcore get the scoop over Trekmovie on the start of filming….

@27. Disinvited,

Thank you for posting such a clear illustration of the series development process in Hollywood, which also makes a very clear case for Paramount developing a series for Trek, despite not being the actual rights holder.

@ RDR

Exactly. You and I forsaw how this was going to play out, but as for the exact details, I expect it was’nt much more than a phone call verbal “handshake” agreement. That’s usually how things like this go down.

Congrats to MCG for making the most of his limited leverage – perhaps he even got the idea from you and I?

…the idea that he had some leverage to work with here.

Cool title, for whatever they end up using it for. Hopefully, a new tv series.

“Star Trek Beyond/Uncharted Fan Pitch
TrekMovie’s exclusive story that Michael Chang Gummelt, a fan not involved in the film industry, was invited by Paramount to pitch a series stirred up a strong reaction from many of our readers. Inquisitive Trekkies instantly noted two oddities also mentioned in the article: 1. Paramount doesn’t solicit pitches from anyone, Hollywood insider or not; and 2. Paramount doesn’t even have the rights to produce a television series. CBS does. Additionally, the timing of the name change of Michael Gummelt’s “Star Trek Beyond” to “Star Trek Uncharted” (and accompanied change in URL) seemed too coincidental for a deal between Gummelt and Paramount not to be in the works.

When asked whether the opportunity to pitch Star Trek Uncharted came in return for the StarTrekBeyond.com domain name, Michael Gummelt declined to comment.”

Has anyone from Trekmovie bothered yet to contact Paramount or CBS as well?

@6. Harry Ballz,
“the website name could have been yanked away from him at any time for legal reasons.”

There is no way they can just take a domain from anyone, especially someone who has owned it for so long, its property. It would have to be purchased and only if the party who owns it agrees. He did not have to sell Beyond, but he saw and opportunity so he did.

—————————————————————————————————-

Oh man, over at Trek Core there is so much controversy over Paramount acquiring the beyond domain.

First off the person who owned it (who has his own idea for a TV show) said that Paramount is allowing him to pitch his TV show.

First off Paramount has no right to Star Trek TV, PERIOD.

Second, Paramount probably paid him a hefty amount for that domain and said “sure we’ll take a look at your proposal for a show….not that its going to go anywhere…but little do you know that.”

Third, Paramount could have easily told him what to say as part of a contract for acquiring that domain. Paramount: “You must agree to tell the fans that we are taking a serious look at the show.” Which I doubt they will do.

I dont think any TV show will manifest of this pitch to Paramount. It is probably just a gesture offered by Paramount as part of the deal with no other intentions behind it. Most discussions about this subject echo that fact as well as the Transporter Room 3 podcast.

I hope for the best but I do not blindly accept anything out of the mouth of hollywood corporate executives and suit monkeys.

Star Trek 3 (Beyond) is shaping up to be a shit show, Paramount, start putting your money where your mouth is with a beloved franchise beholden to millions!

If you take a look at photos from this years Las Vegas Licencing Expo you will see how CBS proudly displayed Star Trek (PRIME!) and how proud it is to have this franchise and represent it during its 50th Anniversary. Paramount for lack of a better word is raping it (figuratively of course.)

As always, I hope for the reboot movies, I hope for Paramount, I hope for CBS, and I hope for a prime universe TV series.

But right now, looking through the old objective lens (as Obi Wan would say) CBS “is our only hope.”

…yeah, it was pretty obvious …hopefully MCG got a fair trade ;-)

Kayla: don’t listen to the nit-pickers… i like your writing =)

The only thing Im curious about is, did Paramount say “hey, nice idea there, wanna pitch us?” or dis Michael say “sure, you can have the domain but how about hearing my pitch?”

*sigh* … I guess THE MAKING OF will be beyond the length of the movie.

This doesn’t qualify as “BREAKING” news at all, at least not at this point in movie-making history! The title of one single Star Trek movie that happens to come out in the same years as the 50th anniversary isn’t really big news at all..

BREAKING news would be announcements such as:
– at least one new TREK TV show coming to the CW / CBS / Netflix
– a line-up of revival / reunion Trek mini-series coming for the 50th anniversary
– an extended shared universe concept featuring AT LEAST one new Star Trek movie every year!

Anything less remains a disappointment! Shouldn’t I be grateful for ONE Tre movie eveyr 3-4 years? Nope! Not in 2015… Not with 10+ CBM shows, annual Star Wars movies and record-breaking nostalgia movies based on 90s classics…

Thank you Disinvited!

Startrekbeyond.com, as a domain name, was updated today as being owned by Matt Serlin out of San Francisco.

He probably works at Starfleet Headquarters.