Earlier this year a U.S. District Court rejected the Axanar production team’s claim that the Star Trek fan film fell under fair use. Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, CBS and Paramount have settled their case against Axanar Productions, precluding a juried judgment on the extent of Star Trek infringement in Axanar.
As part of the settlement, producer Alec Peters and Axanar Productions stated that both Axanar and its prequel Prelude to Axanar, “crossed boundaries acceptable to CBS And Paramount relating to copyright law.”
Axanar will no longer be a feature film about Federation hero Garth of Izar and his conflict with the Klingon Empire, but will undergo “substantial changes,” according to a joint statement. The settlement also insists future productions comply with contentious fan film guidelines proposed by Paramount. Originally a peace offering engineered by Star Trek directors J.J. Abrams and Justin Lin, the Paramount guidelines instead turned into a lightning rod.
The guidelines, which limits Star Trek fan films to two “segments, episodes or parts,” each less than 15 minutes, also include numerous restrictions on content, funding and form described as “draconian” by Axanar director Robert Meyer Burnett when they were announced in 2016.
The rules stipulate that fan productions must be “family friendly” and must not include “profanity, nudity, obscenity, pornography, depictions of drugs, alcohol, tobacco, or any harmful or illegal activity, or any material that is offensive, fraudulent, defamatory, libelous, disparaging, sexually explicit, threatening, hateful, or any other inappropriate content.” (emphasis mine) Expansive and vague terminology could provide CBS and/or Paramount the option of continued, selective IP enforcement.
But the restrictions are more than editorial. The Paramount guidelines ban past or present Star Trek cast members from making cameos, a staple of the fan film genre. Specific wording must appear in the subtitle, no one can make their own Star Trek costumes or props and no one involved can be paid.
“These guidelines appear to have been tailor-made to shut down all of the major fan productions and stifle fandom. In no way can that be seen as supportive or encouraging, which is very disheartening,” Peters previously said in opposition to the guidelines.
Axanar Productions put out a separate statement announcing their intention to go forward with production on Axanar in this much more restrictive fan film environment. “T here are several pre-production issues that need to be re-visited before we can begin principal photography on our project… Alec Peters and the Axanar team look forward to continuing to share the Axanar story and are happy to work within the Guidelines for Fan Films for future projects.”
