To: , 
From: "Jay  P Hailey" 
Reply-To: trekcreative{at}yahoogroups.com

Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2003 8:13 PM Subject: [T] News



Activision, the computer game developers, have announced their intention to
sue Viacom, owners of the Trek franchise. Activision signed a deal with
Viacom back in 1998 to produce Star Trek games, but according to a press
release at the Activision web site, "Viacom [has breached] its
fundamental promise to continue exploiting the Star Trek franchise
consistent with its practice at the time the agreement was signed in 1998.
Activision cannot successfully develop and sell Star Trek video games
without the product exploitation and support promised by Viacom."

"A continuing pipeline of movie and television production, and related
marketing, is absolutely crucial to the success of video games based on a
property such as Star Trek. However, through its actions and inactions,
Viacom has let the once proud Star Trek franchise stagnate and decay.
Viacom has released only one Star Trek movie since entering into agreement
with Activision and has recently informed Activision it has no current
plans for further Star Trek films. Viacom also has allowed [Deep Space Nine
and Voyager] to go off the air and [Enterprise] suffers from weak
ratings."

"Viacom also frustrated Activision’s efforts to coordinate the
development and marketing of its games with Viacom’s development and
marketing of its new movies and television series."

"By failing and refusing to continue to exploit and support the Star
Trek franchise as it had promised, Viacom has significantly diminished the
value of Star Trek licensing rights including the rights received by
Activision. Moreover, in so doing, Viacom has breached a fundamental term
of its agreement with Activision and has caused Activision significant
damage."

Activision has now terminated the agreement with Viacom and has "filed
a complaint seeking to recover the damages it has suffered and will suffer
as a result of Viacom’s failure to abide by its agreement, and its stated
intention to continue to breach its agreement, and seeks the return of the
warrants now wrongfully in Viacom’s possession."

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