Christies sued for $7mil over "fake" Trek props
- Thread starter phase pistol
- Start date
tk1780
Well-Known Member
Yup I agree, they will settle this I would bet quietly behind doors. Rest assured however if this guy was not set for life he soon will be however. :rolleyes I am sure Christies wants this to go away soon, so will likly make an offer to have that happen. In truth I am suprised they let it get this far in the first place.
I understand this. However, the point that many people seem to be missing is that if you look at the evidence beyond the newspaper hype, Christie's has done nothing wrong and there is no reason that their reputation should be at stake. This is a frivolous lawsuit. I was being generous when I even suggested that the guy might get back his $6,000 to "make this go away." Justice would be better served if Christie's filed a countersuit for defamation.
defstartrooper
Sr Member
Exactly why would they roll over and say oh here's a few million dollars please drop your blatantly stupid lawsuit you will never win :wacko
Why do people think if they file a lawsuit the other guys just gonna automatically cave and settle out of court ?
They would only do that if there was a chance they would lose which there isn't going by the published description of the item
I concur. Actors don't know jack about their wardrobe. They get dressed up in the morning, and then they toss it off at the end of the day eager to get home.
I suspect the visor Brent Spiner owned was the one he wore in the last episode. He probably asked if he could keep it since it was, after all, the last episode. But this says nothing about the visors he wore in any of the other poker scenes spanning 7 seasons of the show, having gone through the hands of numerous wardrobe people.
But none of this even matters because the description said "made for."
I suspect the visor Brent Spiner owned was the one he wore in the last episode. He probably asked if he could keep it since it was, after all, the last episode. But this says nothing about the visors he wore in any of the other poker scenes spanning 7 seasons of the show, having gone through the hands of numerous wardrobe people.
But none of this even matters because the description said "made for."
7 million dollars, just think about that, 7 million, lol its not even funny!!!
Actually the description in the printed catalogue didn't say "made for." It said:
Regardless, several people have said that this description was amended at the live auction to state that it was not screen used. If Christie's has the video and/or witnesses to prove that they should be ok.
As for settling out of court, if you listen to the raw video by NBC the guy says he did try to settle out of court already. It seems that didn't work, so really he has nothing to lose at this point. Whether or not he wins his case, he will be no worse off than if he hadn't filed the suit. But by filing his suit he will have at least succeeded in bringing attention to his situation, and causing some future customers to doubt or question Christie's authentication practices.
Regardless, several people have said that this description was amended at the live auction to state that it was not screen used. If Christie's has the video and/or witnesses to prove that they should be ok.
As for settling out of court, if you listen to the raw video by NBC the guy says he did try to settle out of court already. It seems that didn't work, so really he has nothing to lose at this point. Whether or not he wins his case, he will be no worse off than if he hadn't filed the suit. But by filing his suit he will have at least succeeded in bringing attention to his situation, and causing some future customers to doubt or question Christie's authentication practices.
defstartrooper
Sr Member
Nothing to lose ? lawyers work for nothing these days do they ?
Well that's true. I don't know the arrangement he has with his lawyer. Many get paid a percentage of the winnings, and if there are no winnings, they're SOL. If he's paying this lawyer by the hour, they you're right, he would be out money for this. How much? Who knows?
defstartrooper
Sr Member
Yeah you dont fnd many of those shady lawyers like that working on $7 million dollar lawsuits though and if he has one of those then he's got even less chance of winning.
Also Christies and CBS will more than likely file a counter claim against him for their own costs at least.
This is not a cry for justice, this is a cash grab.
Somebody at Christies will figure what it will cost them in Layer fees and make him an offer that's less than a what it will cost them in a trial.
This happens every day in the corporate world. Right or wrong.
BrianM
Somebody at Christies will figure what it will cost them in Layer fees and make him an offer that's less than a what it will cost them in a trial.
This happens every day in the corporate world. Right or wrong.
BrianM
defstartrooper
Sr Member
It wont cost them a penny in fees if the guy loses and anyone can see his case is full of holes.
They will have legal advisors on the books anyway these places always do and i cant see any lawyer telling them they have any chance of losing.
Unless they are using Lionel Hutz :lol
stapleton13
Well-Known Member
Just a thought. The visor in question could be screen used anyway. Data played poker a lot in the seven years it was on TV. Who's to say there wasn't more than one visor used.
jdebord
Sr Member
I posted an update on my blog, with a scan of the Christie's lot/description amendment:
Star Trek Christie’s Lawsuit - The Official Data's Poker Visor Description Amendment
Star Trek Christie’s Lawsuit - The Official Data's Poker Visor Description Amendment
Lot 633: Please note this should read ‘made for’ and not worn by.
Jason
Mach5
New Member
I remember hearing a guy (In fact his name was guy Van something) that said he used to get calls at Paramount to verify pieces for Trek auctions from some of the big houses and they did have and pull fakes when they learned of them.
These pieces were put in by Paramount though so I doubt they are fakes, just perhaps not the one worn on screen?
In fact, if Mr. Spiner had it, he probably asked someone in wardrobe or props for it and they could have given him one of the ones they had, worn or not! They probably had several of them and he got one of them, another was found in a box of pieces from whatever episode and auctioned.
They also had some Trek crew people sorting and captioning these items, IIRC.
What a waste of court time. I bet this is just buyer's remorse.
Oh well.
These pieces were put in by Paramount though so I doubt they are fakes, just perhaps not the one worn on screen?
In fact, if Mr. Spiner had it, he probably asked someone in wardrobe or props for it and they could have given him one of the ones they had, worn or not! They probably had several of them and he got one of them, another was found in a box of pieces from whatever episode and auctioned.
They also had some Trek crew people sorting and captioning these items, IIRC.
What a waste of court time. I bet this is just buyer's remorse.
Oh well.
Tan Djarka
Sr Member
From what I can see, the piece was at least misrepresented in the beginning, which would seem to make for a valid case, assuming sufficent effort was not made to correct the initial listing. But something else occurs to me...
You realise that he paid $6000 for something with so little value that Paramount doesn't even want to store it? If it weren't for deep pocketed collectors and enthsuiasts, it would likely have gone directly into the trash, and not to Christies.
Sometimes, I think we just do this to ourselves.
You realise that he paid $6000 for something with so little value that Paramount doesn't even want to store it? If it weren't for deep pocketed collectors and enthsuiasts, it would likely have gone directly into the trash, and not to Christies.
Sometimes, I think we just do this to ourselves.
For the same reason if you slip and fall in a grocery store they will settle for a few thousand without going to court to make it go away. They don't want to bother to go to court. Granted a million is a BIG difference from a few thousand.
