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If you're a fan of Star Trek you may be aware of the ongoing legal dispute regarding the fan film known as Axanar. in it's 50th anniversary year of the franchise CBS Paramount seem to have settled that dispute and today launched a set of official guidelines for aspiring filmmakers going forward. What do you think?

Letter to the fans
http://www.startrek.com/article/star-trek-fan-film-guidelines-announced

The guidelines
http://www.startrek.com/fan-films

It looks strict--but everyone has Axanar to blame for that, so IMO they should not complain to Paramount about it.  Some form of check needed to be put into place on productions that were overstepping their bounds by competing directly with the original IP and even appearing to have official endorsement because of the actors they hired.

How does this compare to the Star Wars rules?

very similar to the star wars fan films awards rules. stricter in some places, more relaxed in other places. However, as much as Axanar may have caused this, having accepted rules that everyone can abide by can only be a good thing going forward. maybe next thing they'll do is have their own awards like lucasfilm does.

I'm only surprised it took this long.  I love Trek and I love fan films.  The problem is, in more recent years Trek fan films have taken a life of their own and even attracted the notice and talents of industry professionals.  While that's not necessarily a bad thing, it is bad for CBS/Paramount.  Their own recent efforts have been failing to excite longtime fans and a lot of fans are saying that fan films are better than what CBS/Paramount is putting out.  So, this has been an issue for them for some time.  I think Axanar raising all of that money and plannng on using it to put together a professional level (but still low budget) movie was just the final straw.  Rather than continue with their lawsuit against that one project, they decided to crack down on all film projects of that nature, effectively pulling the rug out from under a lot of good filmmakers.  By limiting fan films to short, strictly amateur level films, they are hoping to get rid of the competition as their new movie and TV series draw nearer.

I only hope these guidelines take effect from here forward and aren't applied retroactively.  If they do that, a lot of good films will have to be taken down.

in the internet age it would be impossible to enforce this rules retroactively. But going forward they will definitely crack down hard.

Totally agree with your comments about fan films being better received than the latest "official" movies. With regards to Axanar, a lot of the people involved with that are actual established film makers already. From what I've seen of the production, Paramount would be well off actually getting these guys officially involved with all future Star Trek productions. They've shown that they are passionate for the franchise, knowledgeable and skillful in terms of film making.

That might be asking a lot though

IMO they are within their rights to eliminate the competition.  At least personally, I have found some of the Star Trek fan films to be disrespectful to the IP owners by attempting to directly compete with the original IP.  It is one thing to have complaints about the official product...another to outright compete on the same scale, get professional actors (especially those from the franchise itself!), and so on.  That would be like if I took my fanfic, published it in hardcopy, and started selling it as direct competition against the official novels.  I have actually refused to watch ST fan films for that very reason, because of what I considered to be disrespect that was permitted until these new rules.  I would feel better about watching new things created after these rules go into effect, because I would not see them as spitting in the face of the original IP and trying to say, "We're better than you."

IMO if one has THAT problem, one should either a) produce a review like Nostalgia Critic and others, explaining the problems, b) write fanfic where you can do stuff on whatever scale you want but you cannot make money or take away from the movies/TV shows, or c) create an entirely separate franchise that you see as answering the problems you saw in the original IP.  (For example, some of what Ronald D. Moore did in the new Battlestar Galactica--under proper licenses for the BsG IP--was directly answer the severe flaws of Star Trek: Voyager.)  But NOT cannibalize directly from the original IP.

I know there have been management issues with the Star Trek IP and I've called that out in other threads.  But for me, until now I personally had a big ethical problem with what people felt entitled to do in terms of fan films.

It's a fine line. Axanar really went way over that line though. That being said, the Star Wars franchise has never experienced this problem as they have always embraced the fandom, even with the Disney buy-out. CBS/Paramount have (on occasion) been quite dismissive and disrespectful towards their fans. I think they looked long and hard at the Star Wars Fan Film Awards and saw that there was a way to allow fans the freedom to be creative, while still maintaining control in a way that protects the IP.

Having seen a few of the Star Trek fan films, I was surprised at how many actors who have appeared in ST movies or shows actually popped up in these productions. Off the top of my head I know that Walter Koenig, Tony Todd, JG Hertzler and Tim Russ have all appeared in fan films.

I agree with Justicar, that if you have THAT much of a problem with the direction taken by the studio, you have plenty more options open to you other than making a fan film. However, as with all IP that have generational loyal fanbases, we all have some degree of entitlement. But some people just react very differently to it all.

Personally, despite my longing to see Axanar, I think the legal dispute that has resulted in these rules being released can only be a good thing. As someone who is currently working on making a fan film, I know how hard the process is and would never want to make something longer than 15 mins. if I did, I would just become an actual film maker. And, in all honesty, the majority of people who make fan films usually do it on a shoe string budget and therefore don't have the budget to make something longer.

Of all the fan films, both SW and ST, I have seen, the ones that are best are the ones that are 5-10 mins long. I personally wouldn't want to watch a fan film at home on my ipad that was 90 mins or more (that's what the cinema is for). These rules, while placing certain restrictions on fan films, will actually make the creators more creative. And maybe it will inspire some great original sci-fi (who else remembers Babylon 5 or Farscape for instance).

The problem with Paramount is that they first tried the heavy handed approach.  In the late 90s, they actually issued C&D letters to any sites even using Star Trek logos and images.  However, they almost immediately rescinded those orders, realizing that people using that stuff fell under Fair Use.  Some people and sites skate the line of what is accepted under Fair Use and fan films really do go too far when people make money working on them, including industry professionals who are paid for their work.  Since they rescinded the C&D orders, they took on a policy of ignoring things like fan films, which has led us to where we are.

I think an established set of guidelines is actually overdue.  I was briefly involved in a ST fan film that went nowhere.  However, I was building ships for it, so I was constantly on the phone with the producer. He told me that CBS would contact them periodically saying don't do something, usually after they'd already done it.  So, a list that you can consult ahead of time really helps.

Furthermore, I think a fan film scene where projects like Axanar, who was using someone I actually know, who is an industry professional, to do effects work made it a lot tougher on the amateurs.  We were ridiculed for our effects on the trailer for the film I was working on because they couldn't hold up to projects like Axanar.  So, limiting fan films to strictly amateurs actually levels the playing field a bit.

And, of course, CBS/Paramount is completely within their rights to protect their IP.  Limiting fan productions to fun films that are no threat to them makes sense.  They're letting people continue to make them, they just want to limit what can be done.  That's not an issue for me.  If anything, it makes it more interesting.  When you're not limited on time, you can do what you want.  However, with a 30 minute cap for a single project, it makes it more challenging to tell a good story in that time.  And, it could lead to good things for aspiring filmmakers.  Most big shot directors started off making shorts with a single camera, no money and some volunteers.  People wanting to do fan films have their shot to do just that without "why isn't your film as good as Axanar?"

Hey, thanks for posting these. A couple of my friends want to do both SW and ST fan films and I keep telling them to be careful. I will definitely share this with them.

As for who remembers B5 and Farscape
(http://i.imgur.com/aTpKw4j.jpg)

When I found out that she was going to be around, I ran over to my DVDs and discovered that there is not one picture of Chiana on them. I had that conversation with her and we decided that the Farscape boxset should be all Chiana. (Sorry I'm kind of proud of that picture. It's much better than the one of me holding the door for Shatner.)

Knox, while I felt they had every right to kick Axanar a lot harder than what they ultimately did, and that CBS/Paramount were wholly in the right here, even I will admit there are reasons in the other thread that I ranked Star Wars higher in the "Fandom Management" category, and the fact that the situation got out of hand this far at all before coming up with a way to acknowledge and manage that aspect of the fandom only further makes my case.

the cynical part of me thinks the only reason why CBS/Paramount discontinued legal proceedings was more to do with publicity; they have a new movie coming out and it's the 50th anniversary of the franchise this year. While they are within their rights to take legal action against Axanar, the whole situation was making them look like the bad guys. Plus a lot of fans of Axanar said they were going to boycott the new film.

I'm surprised it has taken this long for these rules to come out though. SW has had theirs in place since 2002. Add to that the troops like 501st Legion being able to do what they do and it further highlights the fact that SW has always been willing to work with the fanbase. As Justicar and SFD eluded to, the way Trek fans have been managed in the past has been quite heavy handed. Hopefully this is the beginning of a new chapter of cooperation.

 It will be interesting to see if Axanar actually gets released, as even though legal proceedings are no longer happening, that doesn't mean the film can still be released.

Okay, I have no problems with the guidelines, except for the first one:

"The fan production must be less than 15 minutes for a single self-contained story, or no more than 2 segments, episodes or parts, not to exceed 30 minutes total, with no additional seasons, episodes, parts, sequels or remakes."

So basically they are saying that it doesn't matter how popular it is or how much of a story you have to tell, you cannot go beyond these set guidelines or they're coming after you. They really don't want any creativity coming out of the fans that might threaten their brand.

The only other group that's anywhere near this level of ass-hattery is Disney.

It's not an issue of not wanting "creativity"--it's an issue of not wanting a rival series, and given that's what Star Trek began as and is about to be again, that makes sense.

It's not even about a "rival" series.

Paramount's last two forays into Star Trek television (Voyager and Enterprise) were abysmal. Enterprise never really stood a chance and Voyager was such a screwup that one episode in particular was declared officially non-canon.

What they don't want is some upstart amateurs showing them up by doing a Star Trek series, fan film, etc that is true to the spirit of the show and outshines them. Axanar did just that. Son much so that it pulled in actual Trek actors to reprise their roles. Basically, Paramount didn't get their share of the pie that Axanar made in crowdfunding and, as any whiny bitch will do, has basically said "I'm taking my toys and going home."

Just because the original IP didn't do well--and I agree Voyager was bad, and earlier ENT was too (later Enterprise was good)--doesn't entitle fans to try to outright try to compete against it.  I would rather be honest and go to another franchise if I am that disheartened than go out to damage something I am invested in.

Thing is, Axanar wasn't actually trying to compete with the studios. The idea of it was what caught on and drew such interest. Most fan film makers aren't trying to compete either. They simply have a story to tell and are fueled by love of the franchise.

This is a critical difference between fan films and actual productions. Fan films often have the love behind it, but not the resources to pull it off so well. Studio productions with their corporate mindsets typically have the resources, but as we saw with Voyager and early Enterprise, the love was lacking.

Axanar was the rare jewel that transcended that limitation thanks to crowdfunding.

I think we're going to see more entertainment projects being funded through crowdfunding campaigns in the future, though.

Axanar was crowdfunded.

The Veronica Mars movie was insanely well crowdfunded, raising $5.7 million dollars in a month's time.

Star Citizen (the new MMORPG spaceflight sim) is entirely crowdfunded and has raised a staggering $110 million, making it the most successful crowdfunding campaign.

It would seem that all Paramount is doing (besides protecting IP) is trying to keep the executives in their seats. If the crowdfunding trend keeps going, it could result in a paradigm shift in how movies are made. You'd see studio executives becoming little more than landlords for the projects that want to shoot on their property.

I am not bothered by totally independent franchises crowdfunding at large levels like that, and I do think all studios and large producers should be on notice where that is concerned.  But I have a hard time seeing it as love to do something outright damaging.

Regardless of Axanar, I do believe Trek is on its last legs as an intellectual property, and has been soundly defeated in the PR and fan relations arena by Star Wars.  But, that doesn't make me any warmer to the chutzpah the Axanar producers showed, to do what they did.

The thing is, people bit the hand that fed them, plain and simple.  You had groups making series of episode length films and feature length films that were basically a slap in the face to CBS/Paramount.  "Look, we can make our own Star Trek, we don't need you."  People were also raising tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands and, of course, Axanar's over 1 million dollars to produce fan films.  Fan films.  Films that are supposed to be made by fans for fun and for love of the source material.  People who are industry professionals were being brought in and being paid for their services.  One of the longstanding rules of fan films is that they can't make any money.  Period.  However, they bring in all of this fundraising money and pay people to do things for them.  So, people are making money.  Granted, the project itself isn't making money, but someone is.  Plus, you had people "giving away" physical copies of their movies as perks in the fundraisers.  So, basically, people were buying DVDs and Blu-Rays through Kickstarter.  Selling DVDs and Blu-Rays of fan films is illegal.  So, yeah, people bit the hand and they bit it hard.  CBS/Paramount just bit back.

It's really funny how people are getting all mad at CBS/Paramount for this, yet I'd be willing to bet you that if those same people had a copyrighted intellectual property, they'd do anything they could to protect it.  And, realistically, that's what CBS/Paramount is doing protecting their IP.  It could be worse, they could ban fan films altogether.  There are other IP owners who actually do that, by the way.  They will take fan film makers to court.  It hasn't gotten that far with Star Trek yet.  However, if people keep biting the hand, it will.

The thing is, there are a lot of talented and creative people who work on Star Trek fan films.  If these guidelines are really that hard for them to handle, they can switch to doing something else.  Heaven forbid you actually do something original.  If you do, guess what.  It becomes your IP and you can treat it as you like.

i for one do not have a problem with this rule. If someone is that passionate and creative with their ideas that they can make multiple protections telling a story, why not come up with something original rather than using the ST IP? I. This day and age where a major movie was filmed on a iphone and VOD and streaming services are looking for new content all the time, it had never been easier for original content to get out there.

Again, I go back to my own fan film. I have, what I think is an awesome for a film and hopefully i will be able to get made. However, if I had lots more ideas I would either submit spec scripts to Lucasfilm directly and see if I could get officially involved with them or, as Justicar said, if I really was so creative that I had all these ideas, just create my own universe. It worked for Roddenberry. It worked for Lucas. It worked for Tolkien. It worked for CS Lewis. Being inspired for the work of others to write your own fan fiction is one thing, but to do it in such a way that it behind to infringe on the IP is out of order. Copyright laws exist for a reason and it is only because of the gratituousness of companies like Disney and a lucasfilm that fan films are allowed to exist. But of course they have to put limits of what these films can and can't do, especially in this day an age where videos on the Internet can go viral and have 20, 30, 40 million views.

Also, Justicar mentioned something that I may have said myself on another thread. Star Trek as a brand is dying. It hasn't been great or good since the 90s when DS9 ended. It will always have it's fans, but as a franchise it is definitely on it's last legs. To a certain extent that can account for CBS/Paramount's rather strong reaction to Axanar. If we go all the way back to 2008, there was no series or movies. The last couple of movies hadn't been great (even though I don't mind Insurrection. It's fun but not "must see") and the last tv series had ended with a bit of a whimper. No-one apart from really dedicated fans were talking about Star Trek. That's why they decide to reboot it with a new timeline. They felt there was nowhere left to go with the franchise. The 2009 reboot was a good start, but Into Darkness was very decisive amongst fans. The studio didn't do itself any favours either by saying they weren't making that movie for the fans, it was being made for the wider cinema audience. And then came Axanar. I think the amount of money it raised and the anticipation for it proves that Star Trek fans want. A good story and want to be respected. Until the last trailer for Beyond came out I was more psyched to see Axanar than the actual studio movie! And therein lies the rub.

Making movies isn't easy especially using an IP that had millions of generational fans around the world. And you can't keep everybody happy all the time. And yet, I think an examination of why fans were so much more pumped for Axanar rather than Beyond should be conducted. And as I said before, if Axanar is as good as we expect it is, Paramount could work in partnership with those people and even bring them officially on board as part of the Star Trek team on future projects.

Also, I think people are mad at CBS not because of WHAT they were trying to do, but more in HOW they went about doing it.

I will be honest, I think CBS and Paramount may well regard the Star Trek fanbase as a liability rather than an asset, and when you consider the insular nature of some parts of the fanbase, it's not a stretch to see why.  The three movies were aimed at mass appeal.  The new series, I suspect, will be a final attempt to negotiate, so to speak, with the insular core.  The very manner in which it's being distributed suggests hedging one's bets from a corporate standpoint--they do not trust the Star Trek fanbase to support it.  If that fails they can then point to both the series and the movies and say, "See, guys?  There's not enough left to sustain Star Trek.  We're done."

Yes, Paramount more or less ran Star Trek into the ground in the '90s.  Doing 4 series in rapid progression, 2 of which ran at almost the same time, as well as a series of movies really "Trekked" us out.  Unlike some people, I actually like Voyager and Enterprise, but that's just me.  (I know plenty of people who hated Enterprise)  However, that's not to say good Star Trek can't still be made.  James Cawley (Star Trek: New Voyages/Phase II EP/original Kirk), Vic Mignogna (Star Trek Continues EP/Kirk) and Alec Peters (Axanar EP/Garth) are a few people who have proven that they know how to make good Star Trek that fans actually want to see. (there are plenty of others, but those are some of the top names, in my opinion) The problem is, they did it outside the studio, so now CBS/Paramount won't touch them with a 50 meter pole.  There's no way that CBS/Paramount would swallow their pride and come to any of those people with their hat in their hands asking them to fix Star Trek.  (I may be mistaken, but probably not)

Instead, they turned to JJ Abrams, a man who said right off the bat "I've always been more of a Star Wars fan than a Star Trek fan."  That right there tells you how they thought they could "fix" Trek; make it more like Star Wars.  Well, no, that's not it.  It also tells you that nobody left a CBS/Paramount has a freaking clue what made Star Trek great in the first place.  Finally, with Star Trek Beyond, they hired Simon Pegg to write it.  OK, here's a true Sci-Fi nerd and a guy who will care about Star Trek.  Leave him to his own devices and he could probably write an awesome Star Trek film.  However, they immediately tied his hands.  They apparently told him "Less Star Trek and more MCU."  WTH?  So, again make it less like Star Trek and more like a comic book movie?  No, that won't work either.  (I'll still see it, but I have reservations)  So, yeah, CBS/Paramount doesn't know how to fix Star Trek and they won't hire people who do and let them work unencumbered toward that goal.  Without people like Cawley, Mignogna, Peters or even Simon Pegg working without restrictions, they are slowly hammering those nails into the coffin of Star Trek.  The thing that's most irksome is that we the fans can do absolutely nothing about it.  People tried, and now they have a new set of rules to play by.

I've done a lot of Star Trek fan art over the years.  Though, I think I'm about to stop doing fan art.  As much as I love Star Trek, I know when to move on.  If this new set of rules has taught me anything, it's that fan art, fan fiction and fan films maybe aren't the best creative outlet.  Maybe it's time to leave Star Trek alone and do something more original.  Just my opinion, of course.

I am REALLY looking forward to the new series, for no other reason than of the people involved with bringing it to life - Bryan Fuller, who has done some amazing stuff and Nicholas Meyer, responsible for some of the Best Trek films in the franchise.

Voyager had moments and some great episodes, as did Enterprise. But as SFD dude said, we had gotten a bit a Trekked out in the 90s and the franchise hasn't really recovered since.

I do agree with Justicar about how CBS/Paramount views the Trek fans. If the new movie tanks and the new series fails to catch on I think the Trek franchise will be dead and buried for at least 10 years, at which time they will probably attempt another reboot.

I do think the nature of Trek works better as a to series though rather than as a movie.

I am actually not even sure a reboot would be attempted.  The line of reasoning will be, "It doesn't matter WHAT we do, whether we reboot or whether we try to cater to you--you're just going to spit on us anyway, so why should we take the risk with you?  You don't even WANT to be an open, welcoming fanbase and you resist mass appeal."  (Please note I CANNOT give all of my reasons for this studio perception on the forum so if asked to defend it, yes, my defense will be quite thin.)

Am I saying that's a nice or "right" stance?  No.  I am saying it is good business.  But when you have a niche fanbase that outright resents becoming anything but a niche, and in some cases actively rejects growth, then from a major studio's standpoint that's a problem.  SW and MCU, in contrast, are safe bets because they are meant for a wide audience that is not busy cannibalizing itself and chasing out newcomers with torches and pitchforks.  People that don't get OFFENDED when they see merchandising, or mass appeal.  (Well, sure, sometimes we make fun of the more ridiculous products, but the general concept of mass merchandising is not regarded as a major offense. ;) )

If someday an indie studio somehow acquired the full rights and control through legal means and then ran with it as a niche product, the franchise might stay alive but will never again see the budgets or publicity it had before.  But as long as the old episodes can be rerun to at least a little advertising revenue, and books can still be sold (which are less of a financial risk than a show or movie), I don't know if CBS or Paramount could be talked into divesting. 

In business terms, ST is a weak cash cow bordering on a dog: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growth%E2%80%93share_matrix?wprov=sfsi1

What I therefore expect is for the IP holders to decide to zero-budget ST as far as new development after the failure of the new series (which unfortunately I see as near inevitable *regardless of actual quality*) and ride it off into the sunset.

The reason I am angry at Axanar is for getting SO overly big for their britches that they took actions that were aimed at deliberately carving out their own share of what is left, trying to take it from CBS/Paramount, and hasten this process.

Now don't get me wrong: for all of my criticism of studio AND fanbase, I consider myself a Star Trek fan.  But it was NOT the sole responsibility of CBS/Paramount that I fell to the Dark Side, by a long shot.

Star Trek is at home on TV. They were more or less forced down the motion picture route when they tried doing a second TV series and creating a new TV network in the late 70s.  While it hasn't been a bad ride since, one wonders what would have been with a new series instead of TMP.  Star Trek has a deliberately slower and more drawn out style of storytelling that is best suitable for weekly episodes, as opposed to a movie every few years.

I'm also looking forward to the new series more than the movie. :)  Though, I can't help but think CBS is setting themselves up for failure by releasing it on their streaming service and not a more widely used one, such as Netflix or Amazon Prime.  I think, at this point, they may almost be trying to fail.  I think they literally want to stop doing Trek, but they want it to appear like they tried and failed.  Just my opinion.