Jury to decide ‘Star Trek’ copyright fight; Axanar film not fair use
US media companies Paramount Pictures and CBS Studios are preparing to argue a copyright infringement case centring on a crowdfunded “Star Trek” film before a jury, after a judge set the hearing in motion.
The battle began in December 2015, with the media companies filing a lawsuit against Axanar Studios at the US District Court for the Central District of California.
Paramount and CBS then amended their complaint after Axanar filed a motion stating that they had failed to specify which copyrightable elements from the “Star Trek” franchise had been infringed.
The updated complaint, submitted in March last year, claimed that crowdfunded film “Star Trek: Prelude to Axanar” uses characters, species, themes and costumes made famous by the hit show, without permission.
In May, WIPR reported that JJ Abrams, director of "Star Trek" and its sequel "Star Trek Into Darkness", had announced that Paramount was dropping its lawsuit and both parties were trying to reach a settlement agreement.
But earlier this week, US District Judge Robert Klausner rejected a motion for summary judgment filed by Paramount and CBS.
In the opinion (pdf), handed down on Tuesday, January 3, Klausner explained that Alec Peters, executive producer of Axanar, was a long-time Star Trek fan.
“However, going where no man has gone before in producing Star Trek fan films, defendants sought to make ‘a professional production’ ‘with a fully professional crew, many of whom have worked on Star Trek itself’ and raised over a million dollars,” said Klausner.
The court found that there was an "objective substantial similarity" between the film and the copyrighted Star Trek works. But it left the question of "subjective substantial similarity" to a jury to determine.
Klausner explained that there was no dispute that Paramount and CBS have ownership of the copyrights to the Star Trek works and that Axanar had access to the works.
“Thus, the copyright infringement claim can live long and prosper if the Axanar works are substantially similar to the Star Trek copyrighted works,” he said.
Axanar’s attempt to use the fair use exception also failed, with Klausner explaining that the works are “derivative works” of Star Trek.
“Rejection of defendants’ fair use defence is consistent with copyright’s very purpose because derivatives are ‘an important economic incentive to the creation of originals’,” he added.
An official statement released by Axanar said: "While the ruling on fair use is unfortunate, it is just one more step in the legal process leading to a jury trial later this month and a potential appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit."
The release added: "We want to reassure our fans and backers that Axanar Productions remains committed to finding a reasonable resolution of this matter that respects the concerns of CBS and Paramount while allowing us to tell the story of Axanar in a way that will meet the reasonable expectations of the over 10,000 Star Trek fans who helped back our project from the beginning. We look forward to our day in court."
