Settlement reached over Star Trek fan film

A copyright dispute between Star Trek studio chiefs and the creators behind a fan-made prequel film has been settled.
Christian Gossett and Alec Peters made a short film called Prelude to Axanar, set 20 years before the original TV series, via a crowdfunding campaign in 2014, and then set up a new fundraising page to create a feature-length follow-up, titled Axanar, in 2015.
Their efforts raised more than $1 million (£810,000) and received the support of Star Trek icon George Takei, before the “first fully-professional, independent Star Trek film” went into production with a release date set for mid-2016.
However, bosses at CBS and Paramount launched legal action against the filmmakers in late 2015, accusing them of infringing on “copyrighted elements” of the franchise, including “its settings, characters, species, and themes”.
They demanded a court injunction to halt the film’s release, as well as unspecified damages.
The case was ordered to go to trial earlier this month (Jan17), but it has now been settled. As part of the agreement, Peters will make “substantial changes” to Axanar and any future movies will abide by the Guidelines for Fan Films issued by bosses at CBS and Paramount.
“Paramount and CBS continue to be big believers in fan fiction and fan creativity,” a joint statement reads. “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… Paramount and CBS would like Star Trek fans, with their boundless creativity and passion, to ‘Live Long and Prosper’.”