Axanar, a prequel set 21 years before events seen in the first TV episode of Star Trek, has raised more than $1m on Kickstarter and Indiegogo

An unofficial Star Trek fan film, hailed as one of the most successful crowdfunding exercises of 2015, is facing potential catastrophe after the owners of the long-running space saga moved to sue for copyright.

Axanar, which has attracted more than $1m in donations on the Kickstarter and Indiegogo sites, is a prequel that promises to detail events 21 years before those depicted in Where No Man Has Gone Before, the first TV episode of Star Trek, broadcast in 1965.

The movie’s makers have proceeded under the assumption that rights holders Paramount and CBS are unlikely to pursue legal action against a production that does not aim to make a profit. But the studios are unhappy that the film is being advertised as a fully fledged Star Trek episode, complete with Vulcans and Klingons, Federation starships, phasers and warp-speed travel. They filed suit in the central district of California court last week, claiming copyright infringement.

“Star Trek is a treasured franchise in which CBS and Paramount continue to produce new original content for its large universe of fans,” the rights holders told the Hollywood Reporter. “The producers of Axanar are making a Star Trek picture they describe themselves as a fully professional independent Star Trek film. Their activity clearly violates our Star Trek copyrights, which, of course, we will continue to vigorously protect.”

Axanar is described on its Kickstarter page as “the story of Garth of Izar, the legendary Starfleet captain who is Captain Kirk’s hero”. The film’s blurb continues: “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.”



Axanar producer Alec Peters, himself a lawyer, told the Hollywood Reporter: “We’ve certainly been prepared for this and we certainly will defend this lawsuit. There are a lot of issues surrounding a fan film. These fan films have been around for 30 years, and others have raised a lot of money.”

Peters had earlier told The Wrap he was confident the project, which gained the support of Star Trek actor George Takei, would not attract litigation. “CBS has a long history of accepting fan films,” he said. “I think Axanar has become so popular that CBS realises that we’re just making their brand that much better.”

Fan-made films have long been tolerated by Hollywood, with the production levels on most cheaply produced examples of the form unlikely to trouble their official, big-budget counterparts. But the advent of crowdfunding, with its potential to attract higher levels of investment, has moved the goalposts. The Axanar lawsuit, which calls for a jury trial, may well test the boundaries between amateurish tribute and commercial endeavour.