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Is This the Death of Fan Films?

Three of Seven explores recent events relating to Star Trek fan films, with the Horizon sequal being the latest victim.

By Three of Seven Thu 21 Apr, 2016 2:29 PM
We have all heard about the ongoing CBS lawsuit against Axanar, it's hard to miss, but the latest casualty of CBS' heavy enforcement of the Star Trek IP is the sequel to the fan film 'Star Trek: Horizon', which was to start fundraising for this project. This story was reported by 1701news.com, in which the legal team of CBS reached out to Tommy Kraft to not move forward with his plans.

You might remember that we recently had an event, where members all sat together and watch Star Trek: Horizon, we even had a discussion thread about it. Many people would have enjoyed to see a sequel and in my eyes, it's one of the best Star Trek fan films that I have seen, so this really is disappointing news.

This brings me to my question, are we witnessing the beginning of the end for Star Trek fan films? We know that a new Star Trek series approaches, there is also the film Star Trek: Beyond coming out. Maybe they hope that by clamping down on big fan films, they might get more viewers to the stuff that makes money, yet it's these fan projects that keep a fair number of people interested and if those are being taken down, surly interest in something is soon lost. Yes, Star Trek and surrounding materials are protected by copyright, but if no profit is being made, then CBS should look at these as derivative works, which I believe would still protect their copyright. However, I am no legal expert, I have limited knowledge of copyright law!

When it comes to Axanar, views are conflicted because some argue that money was misused and they are looking to make a profit, but when it comes to those behind Horizon, we saw a completed product at the end and many would expect the same for a sequel. Does this mean that fundraising for such a project is the problem CBS has? Or is this a policy which will sweep up any future fan film? Until CBS makes a statement on the matter, this is going to be tricky for any fan who potentially wants to try something like this.

As it stands, Tommy Kraft will now be pursuing a Star Trek inspired film, but not using any of the IP, this project is yet to be named! We wish him all the best and will still look forward to the outcome, you can read more over on their Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/sthorizon

What do you think the future holds for Star Trek fan creations?

WRITTEN AND EDITED BY Three of Seven - rena.hobden@ufplanets.com

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11 Comments
Thu 21 Apr, 2016 2:44 PM
CBS becomes MGM
Thu 21 Apr, 2016 3:03 PM
What a shame, that movie was better then anything Paramount/CBS has put out in years.
Wed 27 Apr, 2016 2:56 PM
If CBS/Paramount keep this up, I wouldn't be surprised they would try banning written fan fiction for mentioning species and technology native to Star Trek.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
Wed 27 Apr, 2016 5:34 PM
In TV/Movies, the big networks or studios are driven by money/profit. There is no real love for the art or story, as a fan done movie would have.

Thus, if the Networks/Studios feel money can be made... they will seek to make it, even in spite of their image. As at the heart of it, it is money they care about, not the fans.

Sad
Wed 27 Apr, 2016 6:15 PM
I don't know what has changed but until Axanar CBS and Paramount were always very forthcoming to the fans and their projects.
Wed 27 Apr, 2016 7:40 PM
Wont be if you kick to the man. Fans everywhere should protest then they think twice. I honestly cant stand companies like this.
Sat 30 Apr, 2016 4:41 PM
As if I would ever watch another of those stupid JJ movies..
Mon 02 May, 2016 3:24 PM
Originally Posted by Jovek
What a shame, that movie was better then anything Paramount/CBS has put out in years.
...which is exactly why they have to take legal action. If it can be confused with the actual IP it's not really a derivative work, is it?

Heck, one of the reviews for Prelude says "the film’s high production values, cinema-quality special effects and the involvement of actors from the canonical Star Trek series elevates Prelude to Axanar beyond the status of a mere fan film."

They didn't mind the short, but they're hardly going to leave a full feature length film alone.
Tue 03 May, 2016 8:33 AM
With the new lawsuit that's been filed by CBS/Paramount against another fan-film, this time for the use of the Klingon Language in said film, I'm actually pretty damn close to washing my hands of ever giving either company my money for anything Star Trek branded again.

Why should I support a company that takes a dump on their fans in such a way?

I can totally understand a company protecting its property rights, that's fine. The situation with Blizzard closing down the Vanilla WoW servers, perfectly justified. But copyright law does allow for fair use if the use of said copyrighted material is transformative.

I'm pretty sure that a wholly original story set in an already constructed world with original characters is pretty transformative.

The only reason I can think of that would even explain CBS/Paramount's motives for taking such a draconian 'nuclear option' approach to these lawsuits is greed. They don't want people making money off these fan-projects, even if it's non-profit.

I said before that I can understand them wanting to protect their brand, but that would be ok if the projects in question were lacklustre or just crap, but their not. They're quality stuff, some of them even with former Trek cast members giving the projects high-profiles.

They don't want the fans burning the house that is Trek, in their eyes, down. So they're setting fire to the house's front lawn.
Tue 03 May, 2016 8:42 AM
This is definitely concerning, can't believe that CBS is behaving like this, I hope they stop doing silly stuff like this in the future. They are just going to drive away the Star Trek fans if they keep killing every decent Star Trek fan made films. It's definitely disappointing to hear, I enjoyed the first film and the sequel I was excited for.

Also, Three your Facebook link doesn't work. Maybe you were looking for this? https://www.facebook.com/tommykraftfilms/
Tue 03 May, 2016 1:42 PM
Originally Posted by Infinity
Also, Three your Facebook link doesn't work. Maybe you were looking for this? https://www.facebook.com/tommykraftfilms/
It did work, which means they changed the group name from when this originally posted!