CBS and Paramount, the two studios that own the rights to Star Trek, announced a list of 10 guidelines for fan film creators this week. The studios are saying that they “will not object to, or take legal action against” filmmakers that follow the new rules (although the studios added that “CBS and Paramount Pictures reserve the right to revise, revoke and/or withdraw these guidelines at any time in their own discretion.”)
The new rules come amid a dispute between the two studios and Axanar Productions, a production company formed by fans who raised more than $1 million in crowdfunding and donations to create a professional-quality Star Trek fan film about Garth of Izar, a hero of Captain Kirk from The Original Series. Axanar Productions boasted about the fact that it had hired people who had formerly worked on Star Trek, and it released a 20-minute film called Prelude to Axanar in 2014. The feature-length film, simply called Axanar, was supposed to debut in 2016.
But CBS and Paramount produced a list of ways they considered Axanar Productions infringing on their copyright. In early May, a judge ruled that the fan film makers would have to face a lawsuit from the two studios.
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Source: Ars Technica – CBS, Paramount offer rules for fan film makers amid Axanar dispute