Live Long, Don’t Prosper On Our IP, CBS Tells Trekkie Filmmakers

CBS and Paramount are targeting a crowd-funded Star Trek film that, by its own admission, employs professionals and aims to have “the quality of Star Trek that all fans want to see.” Alec Peters and other producers raised more than $1 million on Kickstarter and Indiegogo for the project, and hired professional actors and crew members, while admitting they are not licensed by CBS. The film, “Axanar,” uses “innumerable copyrighted elements of Star Trek, including its settings, characters, species, and themes,” the CBS and Paramount complaint reads. The film purports to be a prequel, featuring the adventures of Garth of Izar, a legendary Starfleet captain who was one of Captain Kirk’s heroes. CBS seeks an injunction, as well as damages, for direct, contributory, and vicarious copyright infringement.