We know that CBS Studios and Paramount Pictures launched a lawsuit against Axanar Productions to halt the creation of ‘Star Trek: Axanar‘ but now it seems that the studio has hired a legal team to fight for them! Axanar Productions has picked up Winston & Strawn as their legal counsel. The law firm is one of the leading IP Practices in the United States. If they are able to win the lawsuit it looks like Alec Peters might just be able to put his crowd-funded creation into production after all.

‘Star Trek’ has always been successful from the love of its fans and this is far from the first fan film that has been made in honor of the franchise. It is just quite possibly the most ambitious one attempted.

The initial complaint against the studio stated that if the film were to be created it would be “using innumerable copyrighted elements of Star Trek, including its settings, characters, species, and themes.” According to Peters, and history in general if you were to check out YouTube, CBS Studios has had a “long history of accepting fan films.” While the budget here would be significantly higher than anything that has come before it.

‘Star Trek: Axanar’ was initially set to begin filming this month but has been put on pause while the legality of creating the movie is straightened out.

Peters says that:

“We want to produce this film and we want to respect the rights of the owners of the intellectual property on which our film is based.”

For indie film creators everywhere this is a lawsuit that could have far reaching consequences as it could set the precedent as to if fan films can feasibly be made going forward.

As a fan of ‘Star Trek’ I would love for fans being able to create new stories for the series. This is the equivalent of fan fiction for films, just in this case with over a million dollar budget. Personally, I’d love to see it happen though if it does, I have a feeling shooting will be much further out at this point than anyone would have initially imagined. The delays alone might kill the production if the lawsuit doesn’t squash it.

Were you looking forward to ‘Star Trek: Axanar’? Do you think that it is a fan film that should be made as long as no profits are made from it or should only the IP holders be able to put a film together? Share your thoughts below!

For those who were unfamiliar with what the film was planned to be, I have included the trailer and synopsis below:

‘Axanar’ Synopsis:

“‘Axanar’ takes place 21 years before the events of ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before,’ the first Kirk episode of the original ‘Star Trek’. ‘Axanar’ is the story of Garth of Izar, the legendary Starfleet captain who is Captain Kirk’s hero … ‘Axanar’ tells the story of Garth and his crew during the Four Years War, the war with the Klingon Empire that almost tore the Federation apart. Garth’s victory at Axanar solidified the Federation and allowed it to become the entity we know in Kirk’s time. It is the year 2245 and the war with the Klingons ends here.”

Source: Axanar Productions