Crowdfunded STAR TREK Fan Film Slapped With a Lawsuit From Paramount Pictures
Earlier this year, a prelude to a Star Trek fan film was released called Axanar. I've posted that 21-minute short for you to watch below. That short was crowdfunded and it served as a stepping stone to a much larger project. The team that made that launched another crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo for a full-length feature film, and so far it has raised over $1.13 million.
Over the years, Paramount and CBS — the rights holders to the Star Trek franchise — have supported fan films and even encouraged them at times! But this week they slapped the production company of this Star Trek film with a lawsuit. I guess it just got too big for them, and they felt threatened by it.
It probably didn't help that Axanar is officially described as the "first independent" Star Trek film, and not a fan film. Here's the official description of the project:
Axanar is the first fully-professional, independent Star Trek film. While some may call it a "fan film" as we are not licensed by CBS, Axanar has professionals working in front and behind the camera, with a fully-professional crew--many of whom have worked on Star Trek itself--who ensure Axanar will be the quality of Star Trek that all fans want to see.
For you, the Star Trek fan, Axanar is a return to the type of Star Trek all of us grew up on, with a hopeful future where mankind works with other races to explore the stars, via storytelling that is positive and teaches us about ourselves. Axanar feels like Star Trek because it is made by two of the biggest Star Trek fans in the world, Alec Peters and Robert Burnett. Alec was the executive producer/co-writer of Prelude to Axanar, and Rob wrote & directed Free Enterprise.
The producers of the film, including Alec Peters, are obviously looking to make a studio-quality film. Apparently veteran Star Trek actor George Takei has even helped push the film forward. It's easy to see why Paramount is going after them.
According to the lawsuit that was filed, "The Axanar Works infringe Plaintiffs’ works by using innumerable copyrighted elements of Star Trek, including its settings, characters, species, and themes."
Here's the description of the film itself, and what the story will entail:
"Axanar takes place 21 years before the events of 'Where no Man Has Gone Before,' the first Kirk episode of the original Star Trek. Axanar is the story of Garth of Izar, the legendary Starfleet captain who is Captain Kirk’s hero ... Axanar tells the story of Garth and his crew during the Four Years War, the war with the Klingon Empire that almost tore the Federation apart. Garth’s victory at Axanar solidified the Federation and allowed it to become the entity we know in Kirk’s time. It is the year 2245 and the war with the Klingons ends here."
It sounds like it would be a pretty awesome film! It's a shame that Paramount is trying to shut it down, but they do have every legal right to do so. Peters didn't think there would be any legal issues with the film because he has met with CBS and Paramount regarding it, and it seemed to him like everything would be fine as long as the movie didn't make any money upon its release.
When talking to The Wrap, Peters said, "CBS has a long history of accepting fan films. I think Axanar has become so popular that CBS realizes that we’re just making their brand that much better." I guess the studio had a change of heart.
According to THR, "Paramount and CBS, represented by attorneys at Loeb & Loeb, are now demanding an injunction as well as damages for direct, contributory and vicarious copyright infringement. Although the plaintiffs have allowed ample cosplaying over the years and even permitted other derivatives like amateur Star Trek shows to circulate, the lawsuit illustrates that there is a place where no man has gone before, where the entertainment studios are not willing to let be occupied: Crowdfunded, professional-quality films that use copyrighted 'elements' like Vulcans and Klingons, Federation starships, phasers, and stuff like the 'look and feel of the planet, the characters’ costumes, their pointy ears, and their distinctive hairstyle.'"
Maybe the studio should have told Peters that when they initially met with him regarding the project. Seems to me like they gave the talented people involved with this production a false sense of hope.