Axanar Lawsuit Settlement
2 min read
Just weeks before a jury trial was scheduled to begin, Paramount Pictures Corporation/CBS Studios Inc. and Axanar Productions have settled their lawsuit.
A joint statement from all parties involved said “Paramount Pictures Corporation, CBS Studios Inc., Axanar Productions, Inc. and Alec Peters are pleased to announce that the litigation regarding Axanar‘s film Prelude to Axanar and its proposed film Axanar has been resolved. Axanar and Mr. Peters 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.
“Axanar and Mr. Peters have agreed to make substantial changes to Axanar to resolve this litigation, and have also assured the copyright holders that any future Star Trek fan films produced by Axanar or Mr. Peters will be in accordance with the Guidelines for Fan Films distributed by CBS and Paramount in June 2016.
“Paramount and CBS continue to be big believers in fan fiction and fan creativity. They encourage amateur filmmakers to showcase their passion for Star Trek. Paramount and CBS will not object to, or take legal action against, Star Trek fan productions that are non-professional, amateur, and otherwise meet the Guidelines, which can be found at http://www.startrek.com/fan-films. Paramount and CBS would like Star Trek fans, with their boundless creativity and passion, to ‘Live Long and Prosper.'”
Axanar released their own statement on the matter, saying that “since the beginning of the lawsuit, over a year ago, we have expressed our desire to address the concerns of the studios, and our willingness to make necessary changes, as long as we could reasonably meet our commitments to Axanar‘s over fourteen thousand donors, fans and supporters. We are now able to do exactly that.
“Terms of the settlement agreement include an agreement to allow Axanar Productions to continue showing Prelude to Axanar commercial-free on YouTube and to allow Axanar Productions to produce the Axanar feature film as two fifteen-minute segments that can be distributed on YouTube (also without ads).
“Additional terms of the agreement will be made available to cast, crew and donors through private correspondence.
“For the next sixty days, Axanar Productions will be working through some final legal requirements requiring immediate attention. In addition, there are several pre-production issues that need to be re-visited before we can begin principal photography on our project.
“Axanar Productions was created by lifelong Star Trek fans to celebrate their love for Star Trek. 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.
“Throughout this process, we will continue communicating with our fans and backers to ensure they are informed and involved until we reach completion of the production.”
About The Author
