Paramount Pictures and CBS Studios, the longtime “parents” of the Star Trek franchise, are suing the producer of the crowdfunded fan-made film Axanar.
Star Trek fans have contributed over US$1 million via Kickstarter and Indiegogo in order to help create the professional-quality independent movie, which was intended to be a prequel (pre-original Captain Kirk Star Trek) presented in four parts.
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The two massive companies are going after producer Alec Peters of Axanar Productions, claiming his movie will infringe on multiple Star Trek copyrights. Dubbed “The Axanar Works,” the suit concerns Axanar and a planned prequel film, Prelude to Axanar. Paramount and CBS are seeking up to US$150,000 for every single copyrighted element in the films, including characters, species, themes and settings.
In a joint statement to The Wrap, the companies stated their position:
Star Trek is a treasured franchise in which CBS and Paramount continue to produce new original content for its large universe of fans. The producers of Axanar are making a Star Trek picture they describe themselves as a fully-professional independent Star Trek film. Their activity clearly violates our Star Trek copyrights which, of course, we will continue to vigorously protect.
According to the film’s official site, 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. We met Garth in the third season TOS episode ‘Whom Gods Destroy.’ Kirk called Garth the role model for all future Starfleet Officers. Garth charted more planets than any other Captain and was the hero of the Battle of Axanar, the story of which is required reading at the academy.
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.”
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Peters said he met with CBS in August of this year, but the network didn’t seek to shut down production at the time. The only stipulation was that Peters and his team weren’t allowed to make money off the project.
Despite the interpreted leniency, CBS issued this statement:
CBS has not authorized, sanctioned or licensed this project in any way, and this has been communicated to those involved. We continue to object to professional commercial ventures trading off our property rights and are considering further options to protect these rights.
CBS announced in November that it’s debuting a new Star Trek series exclusively on CBS All Access in 2017. Paramount is set to release the third film in the beloved franchise, Star Trek Beyond, on July 22.
As of this writing, production of Axanar is obviously in question. Peters has not commented on next steps or whether the film will ever see the light of day.
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