Where No One Can Go: Lawsuit Explains Star Trek Copyrights

After Paramount Pictures filed a lawsuit to stop the production of fan-funded Star Trek film, the producers of the film asked for some clarification about precisely what type of copyright infringement Paramount was accusing them of. The Hollywood Reporter reports that Paramount responded with an amended complaint that gives details about all of its intellectual property that the fan film's producers are allegedly stealing. It's a long list.

In the complaint, Paramount lays claim to elements, such as the Starship Enterprise and the Starfleet logo, which seem to pretty clearly belong to Star Trek. But the studio also claims ownership of some features that are quite generic, such as the use of transporters and warp drive, the color of uniforms and the word "stardate." Paramount also claims that it owns the appearance of Vulcans, who have "pointy ears and distinctive eyebrows" (which may come as a shock to Elrond in The Lord of the Rings).

The crowd-funded film, titled Axanar, is set in the year 2245 and takes place before Captain James Kirk was put in command of the Enterprise. It is the story of Starfleet hero Garth of Izar, who was established as one of Kirk's heroes in the original series.