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ARTICLE · 17 JANUARY 2017

Star Trek Fan-Fiction Copyright Suit Tests ‘Fair Use' Defence

Torkin Manes LLP
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Not all space battles these days are being fought on the big screens. If you have already seen Rogue One and are looking for more space action, there is currently an ongoing pitched legal battle between . . .

CanadaIntellectual Property
Lisa R. Lifshitz
Lisa R. Lifshitz
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Not all space battles these days are being fought on the big screens.

If you have already seen Rogue One and are looking for more space action, there is currently an ongoing pitched legal battle between Axanar Productions Inc., a Star Trek-focused fan-fiction production company, and its president, Alec Peters, on one side versus Paramount Pictures Corp. and CBS Studios Inc., owners of the copyrights to the Star Trek motion pictures and the television series and related books, games, merchandise, documentaries, etc., on the other. At issue is the scope of the "fair use" defence in United States copyright infringement law.

Avid Star Trek fans have been (obliviously) making fan fiction movies for decades that stayed free of copyright disputes and were ignored by Paramount. However, all this changed with the entry of Axanar Productions into the fray. Thanks to its history of using professional actors (including some who actually appeared in previous Star Trek series),

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