Ovinomancer
No flips for you!
Except fair use doesn't apply here. Fair use only applies for limited uses, such as to comment or criticize, and for transformitive works -- ie, completely changing the nature of the work. A new Trek story is not comment or criticism, nor is it a transformitive work -- it's the same format and purpose as the original work.
As for trademarks, yes those are an issue, but this can be a copyright claim because Axanar is taking much of the established, and copyrighted, lore for their film. This would be like saying that it's not a copyright issue to take the world of Middle Earth and write your own stories in it. It would still be a copyright issue, even if you don't directly take portions of previously written stories because the world is part of the copyrighted work. Umbran's 'substantial use' analysis from above is apt, even if using the fair use isn't proper.
I found a copy of the filing. CBS is suing everyone involved, including set builders, costume designers, directors, writers, etc. They've thrown a wide net. This has to be the first volley in a plan to destroy fan made Trek work, as I cannot see how the allegations they've making here don't apply to any and all Trek fan work. The only real defense Axanar has is the long existence of other fan projects under the same set of conventions that Axanar is using. Suing instead of issuing a C&D, especially given the ties CBS has with some of the people involved (who they've named as Doe defendants to boot) is a seriously duck move (ducks, as you well know, are the absolute jerks of the bird world).
Axanar is dead. Even if they win the lawsuit, the trial will be so expensive that they'll have to shut down anyway. Given the nature of the suit (no warning, both barrels, widest net possible) it's clear that CBS wants to shut this project down with prejudice, and they don't even have to both winning the case to do it. The US legal system is punishment enough without a verdict to do that.
As for trademarks, yes those are an issue, but this can be a copyright claim because Axanar is taking much of the established, and copyrighted, lore for their film. This would be like saying that it's not a copyright issue to take the world of Middle Earth and write your own stories in it. It would still be a copyright issue, even if you don't directly take portions of previously written stories because the world is part of the copyrighted work. Umbran's 'substantial use' analysis from above is apt, even if using the fair use isn't proper.
I found a copy of the filing. CBS is suing everyone involved, including set builders, costume designers, directors, writers, etc. They've thrown a wide net. This has to be the first volley in a plan to destroy fan made Trek work, as I cannot see how the allegations they've making here don't apply to any and all Trek fan work. The only real defense Axanar has is the long existence of other fan projects under the same set of conventions that Axanar is using. Suing instead of issuing a C&D, especially given the ties CBS has with some of the people involved (who they've named as Doe defendants to boot) is a seriously duck move (ducks, as you well know, are the absolute jerks of the bird world).
Axanar is dead. Even if they win the lawsuit, the trial will be so expensive that they'll have to shut down anyway. Given the nature of the suit (no warning, both barrels, widest net possible) it's clear that CBS wants to shut this project down with prejudice, and they don't even have to both winning the case to do it. The US legal system is punishment enough without a verdict to do that.