It's A Star Trek David Vs.Goliath

It's the fanboys going head-to-head with the copyright holders of Star Trek (CBS and Paramount).  If you haven't heard before, there is a film being produced by professionals that are also fans of Star Trek called Axanar.  It covers the war between the Federation and the Klingon Empire.  It's raised all of the money needed to create it through fundraising and have repeated on numerous occasions that they are not profiting from this project, and all money raised has gone into the production of the film.  CBS and Paramount sued Axanar's production company with a cease and desist order, claiming copyright violations.  So that's the end of that, right?

Wrong.  Here's what Axanar's PR rep Morey Altman had to say about the suit:

"1.  The motion filed Monday on behalf of Axanar Productions and Alec Peters identifies what we view as deficiencies in the original complaint. Specifically, of all the copyrights owned by CBS and Paramount that relate to Star Trek, none are specifically referenced as being violated meaning it's not clear what the potential damages are or, more importantly, what Axanar Productions might be able to do to change its production and no longer infringe on the copyright.

2.  The motion also asks for a dismissal of the suit as it pertains to the feature film, Axanar, because the film has not yet been produced - the script hasn't even been finalized -  and it's impossible to identify precisely how the film infringes on CBS and/or Paramount's various copyrights."

And to quote Blastr.com, "here's the crux of these arguments straight from the motion itself:

"Until the film has been completed, the Court will not be able to compare Defendants’ film with the relevant Star Trek films and episodes at issue to determine whether the themes, mood, setting, pace, plot and characters are substantially similar. Moreover, to the extent any of the elements Plaintiffs are complaining about are actually protectable, Defendants intend to vigorously defend their use (if any) as a fair use. Without a film, the Court cannot evaluate the purpose and character of Defendants’ film, whether it is transformative, or a parody, and the amount and substantiality taken (if any). Similarly, the Court will not be able to evaluate any de minimis use defense."

The key thing to mention out of all of this is the term "fair use."  The same article went on to explain that "you've likely heard that term show up quite a lot online recently due to corporate takedowns of small content creates on sites like YouTube, Vimeo and others. And there's an argument to made that a work, inspired or otherwise using elements from another copyrighted work, is within its legal right to exist and even draw income. But fair use is a vague and tricky concept, one whose fate is being played out right now, both legally and in the court of public opinion."

The most likely outcome for the two groups here is to try and find some "middle ground" to agree on.  There are a lot of people that want to see this project proceed, and with the the "fair use" arguement still being a "hot-button topic," CBS and Paramount may want to take this route, or feel pressured to, and find some sort of agreement with the Axanar production group.

Here's one of the trailers for Axanar that you can find on YouTube: