Paramount ends ‘Star Trek’ copyright battle with Axanar
US media companies Paramount Pictures and CBS Studios have settled a copyright infringement battle with Axanar Studios, the makers of a “Star Trek” fan film.
The dispute stemmed from a lawsuit filed in December 2015 by the media companies, alleging that “Star Trek: Prelude to Axanar” uses characters, species, themes and costumes made famous by the hit show without permission.
“Star Trek: Prelude to Axanar” w as released in 2014, after Axanar raised more than $600,000 for the film from more than 8,000 donors on Kickstarter.
There were also plans to produce a feature length film called “Axanar” which the studios took issue with.
Earlier this month, US District Judge Robert Klausner rejected a motion for summary judgment filed by Paramount and CBS, meaning that the parties began to prepare for trial.
Klausner left the question of “subjective substantial similarity” for a jury to determine, but ruled that Axanar could not use the fair use exception, explaining that the works are derivative works of “Star Trek”.
In a joint statement, the parties said that Axanar and Alec Peters, executive producer of Axanar, “acknowledge that both films were not approved by Paramount or CBS, and that both works crossed boundaries acceptable to CBS and Paramount relating to copyright law”, according to news website The Hollywood Reporter.
In a blog post issued on Friday, January 20 on Axanar’s website, Peters said that the company was pleased to announce “a formal resolution”.
He added that since the beginning of the dispute, Axanar has expressed its desire to address the concerns of the studios and its “willingness to make necessary changes”, as long it could reasonably meet its commitments to Axanar’s more than 14,000 donors, fans and supporters.
Terms of the settlement include an agreement to allow Axanar to continue showing “Prelude to Axanar” with no adverts on YouTube and allow Axanar to produce its feature film as two 15-minute segments.
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