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Judge Denies Summary Judgment Motions in Star Trek Copyright Suit

A jury will have to decide whether a so-called Star Trek fan film is subjectively substantially similar to official Star Trek canon and willfully violates Star Trek copyright, U.S. District Judge Gary Klausner of Los Angeles ruled in an order…

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(in Pacer) posted Wednesday denying summary judgment motions by both plaintiffs, CBS Studios and Paramount Pictures, and defendants, Axanar Productions and its president (see 1612060018). Klausner said both motions raise the same fundamental issues about the substantive similarity between the Axanar works and Star Trek copyrighted works, and whether Axanar/Peters have a valid fair use defense under the Copyright Act. The judge said the Axanar works have objective substantial similarity to Star Trek -- an objective extrinsic test and subjective intrinsic test for substantial similarity being 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals tests for copyright infringement -- and they do use copyright-protected elements. Klausner peppered his decision with multiple Star Trek quips and asides, such as saying the copyright infringement claim "can live long and prosper if the Axanar Works are substantially similar" and elsewhere referencing the title of a 1969 episode of the original TV series.