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In an odd turn..
Activision are taking Viacom to court, complaining that the TV and film giant has failed to fully exploit their Star Trek franchise.
According to Activision, Viacom made a fundamental promise to continue to maintain the Star Trek family of films and TV shows when Activision purchased the videogames licence back in 1998. Since then, Activision allege, only one new Star Trek film has been released, two Star Trek TV series have been canceled and the sole remaining series is suffering from poor ratings.
"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," an Activision spokesperson claims.
Saying that the value of the company's Star Trek licence has been 'significantly diminished' by Viacom's lack of support for the franchise, Activision have now canceled their agreement with Viacom and have filed a complaint to recover damages.
Viacom, unsurprisingly, deny the claim. "Activision's allegations are without merit", a Viacom spokesperson told Reuters. "[The company] appears to be trying to use the courts in an effort to renegotiate a deal it made in 1998 to secure the rights to the valued Star Trek franchise for interactive games."
Personally it bugs me more when a franchise is over exploited, and surely the poor ratings cant be blamed solely on Viacom. Its an interesting move, but i doubt they'll be little they can do about it.