Axanar Files Second Motion To Dismiss
2 min read
For the second time, the lawyers working for Axanar have filed a motion to dismiss and they are again seeking clarification from Paramount Pictures and CBS Corporation regarding which copyrights the production has violated.
Axanar posted an official statement regarding the new motion, which was filed yesterday. “Yesterday, acting on behalf of both Axanar Productions and Producer Alec Peters, Winston & Strawn filed a Motion to Dismiss the first amended copyright complaint of CBS Studios and Paramount Pictures Corporation. The motion explains that in multiple respects, the deficiencies in CBS and Paramount‘s original complaint are still not sufficiently addressed in their amended filing, and that in some ways the amendments have created new defects.
“The motion provides examples as to how CBS and Paramount overreach in what they claim are elements protected under copyright, and fail to be specific as to exactly which copyrights have been infringed upon; and, in the case of the potential feature film Axanar claims of alleged copyright infringement cannot be made against a film that doesn’t yet exist.
“One issue discussed in the Motion to Dismiss is the lack of specificity about allegedly infringed works at issue raises the question of whether or not Paramount Pictures Corporation even has standing in this lawsuit given that copyright extends only to new elements in derivative works like Paramount‘s films, and the allegedly infringing elements at issue may ultimately all be from works that CBS claims to own.
Axanar Productions hoped that any amended complaint filed in response to its prior motion to dismiss would help narrow and clarify the scope of the case to put the parties in the best position to negotiate a fair and reasonable outcome. In the view of Axanar Productions, CBS and Paramount‘s efforts failed in that regard.
“According to Axanar Production‘s Alec Peters: ‘So as not to distract from Star Trek‘s 50th Anniversary year, the best thing for all parties to do is to sit down and work out a settlement that address both the interests of Paramount and CBS and the desire of over 10,000 Star Trek fans who donated to support this project.”
The Axanar legal team has requested a May 9 hearing date on the motion to dismiss.
The full motion can be seen here.
About The Author
