Star Trek's Lost Enterprise: Legal Ownership Revealed

That night I was with a friend watching The Monster Squad and I got a text message that said “Is this what I think it is?” I didn’t even even know what “it” was but I turned my phone off because I was trying not to be rude. By the time I turn my phone back on I was flooded with messages from all sorts of people including people who work with Rod! 😂

If the so-called legal owners had any morality, they would gift the model back to the family for the original purchase price of the storage unit; if not, and if the studio had any integrity, they would purchase the model from the legal owner, regardless of price, and return the model to the GR family; despite no paperwork of the loan, the studio undoubtedly knew it was being used as a reference for the ST movie.

So if I happened by incredible timing to see it on eBay, and bid $1,000 and eventually won, I would have been it's rightful owner ... wow.

Great work, Jim! There are SO many pieces to the puzzle - thanks for finding and assembling them for all of us.

Great. So, what about the original renters of the unit? How and why did the model get placed in there?

I have a hard time believing that Jon Povill, who was one of the sharpest people associated with Trek back in those days, would have simply forgotten to whom he delivered such a valuable item. Something about this doesn’t add up.

I'd be interested in knowing if Gene Roddenberry actually tried trademarking or copyrighting any of the physical ship models. He was incredibly business savvy when it came to this kind of stuff. And we know he wrote lyrics for the main star trek theme to get performance royalties, so I wouldn't rule him out pulling something like that.
I mention this as your answer as to who owns the model might actually reside at the patent & trademark office. Incredibly small, but not impossible. And who knows? You might even uncover something completely unrelated that Gene registered that's worth sharing with the fandom?

The only other thing that could legally tie up the 3ft model would be if it was a part of a trust fund.

Well done on your update, Jim. You might remember that I was the one who emailed you regarding the eBay auction first, as you didn’t know about it. I’m not heartbroken (much) that you didn’t mention me as the first to inform you. I did it because of your “Missing/Stolen” video. When you made your update video, you only mentioned that many people had notified you. Anyway, I’ll be looking for more about this enigma.

You layed it out as best as it possibly can be, Everything you sighted is correct from my understanding. Hopefully those that are still confused by the facts will be helped by your presentation. Thank you very much for keeping the rest of us informed. 🖖💚💛💙❤

So, if I borrow money from the bank with a loan, I don’t have to pay it back?

Let them fight😆 ,...i just hope it gets restored soon🙂

Jim, thank you for your deep dive into this issue, and for keeping everyone informed.

You got it right.
If Rod had made a copy of the model, aged it and released a press release stating that he, Rod, had the model, he could have avoided all this nonsense.
Looks like It's going to cost him .

Great video, Jim, for making this very clear. You really do great work!

It is amazing that you are documenting in nearly real-time today the culmination of events beginning nearly 50 years ago regarding a model which had an intended lifespan of somewhere around five years or less. It is almost like a TV episode in which scenes flip back and forth between the past and the present with actions in each affecting the other as the story plays out. It has been a pleasure to watch the channel grow from Trek history documentation to Trek history participant. You are literally as much a part of the action as Woodward and Bernstein were of Watergate. I look forward to the near future as you continue to report on this story.

I suggest, that as a compromise, all parties agree that I own it and deliver it to my house posthaste.

So if the guys who found it in the storage space have now given it to Rod, then they no longer own it the same way the gut who lent the weedwhacker no longer owns that?
So they have no claim?

"Codified" is pronounced like the fish.

Ok, this makes a lot more sense. Gene was always going on about an adversarial with the studio. That's where I assumed he was trying to get on over on the studio.
It seems the guys that bought the storage unit, were entitled to a payday. But giving the model away to another party really throws a wrench in all this.

Wrong! The buyer is immunized from CRIMINAL liability, but the item does not belong to the buyer. Not in California, not anywhere in the United States. Stick with running a fan site and leave interpretation of law to professionals.

Thanks for wading through this, so we don't have to! 👍

Ahh...the development of it being revealed Roddenberry received it as a gift and then wrote the letter complaining about it missing kind of absolve him. My theory had been that he had been loaned it and hocked it. Gene was probably too embarrassed to really pursue a police report, etc.

The explanation about the self-storage act really put things in perspective.

This is going to make a fantastic movie!

How do we know for sure they found it in the storage unit? Is there any proof of that, other than the guy who won it saying he found it in a plastic bag?

If the model has been returned to the Roddenberry family, as has been reported, then isn't all of this moot since they now have possession of it and it was voluntarily given to Rod? The same laws would now make them the owner, regardless of those circumstances.

Jim, this story will pour blessings on your channel. Even more than you've already experienced.

You managed to have the complicated timeline of events and all that legal information, while presenting it in a way that I could understand it! No sensationalising, no hype or accusations, just facts, but in a way that keeps it interesting.

Curiouser and curiouser...

I wonder if the letter that Gene wrote was like a gentle reminder to whoever had the model to return it. Maybe he didn't want to outright say that someone had stolen it but just wanted them to return it. Just a random thought.

Only thing I am not clear on is if the Storage Unit was actually IN California. I had some idea it was in the Valley, but I checked online and all i found was "it was discovered in a storage unit." If it was outside the state than obviously different laws applied.

❤

So somewhere out there, someone may have made a mold of the 3 foot model. Maybe?

I resemble the “old man” statement. It is this kind of “who-dun-it” that is intriguing to fans. Thanks for taking the time because although we all are fans, could not do what you have done.

Fantastic and looking forward to learning what happened next. I'd always thought Gene kept the model like he did clips for Lincoln Enterprises but that it was really Paramount's property. AND the didnt care since the show was cancelled. So I appreciated learning about the Ancient Documents thing. Thanks for the hard work.

Excellent explanation of the situation. One wrinkle that I don't think you alluded to however is the fact that if Gene had a verbal agreement when he loaned the model that it would be returned, that would be something that was considered a contract. The borrower would be under legal obligation to return it according to that contract, or they would be in violation of that contract.