Paramount Puts Judicial Death Grip on ‘Star Trek’ Fan Film
The latest chapter in the ongoing saga of CBS and Paramount’s efforts to sue the Spock ears off of the producers of Star Trek fan film Axanar continues today, with a new development from the Los Angeles federal court system. This hullabaloo began back in December of 2015, when copyright-holding studios CBS and Paramount got wind that a fellow by the name of Alec Peters had raised nearly a million dollars (that figure is now well over a million) for an independent film project taking place in the Star Trek universe. Because studio executives did not remember selling the creative rights to Mr. Peters, they did the reasonable thing and hauled him into court, claiming the man had infringed on ‘thousands’ of copyrights. In March, Paramount tightened their case up, specifically naming the most heinous violations contained within Axanar, and come June, Paramount released a list of 10 guidelines that fan enthusiasts crafting their own homemade spinoffs can follow to avoid legal action.