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Richard Hatch, the actor and writer best known for his work on the original Battlestar Galactica and the mid-2000s reboot, died Tuesday, Variety reports. He was 71.

"I will always remember him fondly for his inspiring sense of youthful wonder, his boundless passion for creative expression, and his huge, kind heart," Hatch's manager, Michael Kaliski, said.

Hatch was reportedly battling stage four pancreatic cancer, according to Alec Peters, the writer and producer of Axanar, a series of Star Trek fan films that starred Hatch. "Richard was in good spirits when...

Richard Hatch, who starred alongside Lorne Greene and Dirk Benedict in the 1970s sci-fi series Battlestar Galactica, has died. He was 71. Ronald D. Moore, who created the 2000s reboot of the show in which Hatch also appeared, tweeted the news: Richard Hatch was a good man, a gracious man, and a consummate professional. His passing is a heavy blow to the entire BSG family. — Ronald D. Moore (@RonDMoore) February 7, 2017 Alec Peters, who is working on the…...

Richard Hatch, the Golden Globe nominee who starred on both the original Battlestar Galactica TV series as well as the mid-2000s reboot, died Tuesday after a battle with cancer. He was 71.

"Richard Hatch was a good man, a gracious man, and a consummate professional. His passing is a heavy blow to the entire BSG family," tweeted Ronald D. Moore, creator of the Battlestar Galactica reboot. 

Hatch had been battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer, Alec Peters, the writer/producer behind the Star Trek fan film Axanar, wrote on Facebook. Hatch had acted in and was a supporter of the...

It's been a long road for Axanar, the crowdfunded Star Trek fan film from producer Alec Peters. Paramount and CBS hit the movie with a lawsuit that's gotten a lot of attention from the geek community over the past few months, and on Friday, the two parties have finally resolved their differences. The Wrap reports that Peters has agreed to make "substantial changes" to the movie and agreed that any future projects would comply with CBS and Paramount's fan film guidelines that were established last year.

Paramount and CBS (the distributors of Star Trek projects for film and television, respectively) have agreed to allow the Axanar team to continue to play their Prelude to Axanar videos on YouTube, and to allow the movie to play in two 15-minute chunks on YouTube after those substantial changes are made. The movie raised more than a million dollars, and fans who contributed to...

Over a year after Star Trek's copyright holders engaged in a legal war with the sci-fi series' own fans over a crowdfunded, unofficial prequel film, the two sides in the infringement lawsuit announced Friday their battle will not head to a courtroom after agreeing upon a settlement.

In December 2015, Paramount Pictures and CBS Studios filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against producer Alec Peters over his planned film Axanar and its prequel Prelude to Axanar, which they claimed "used innumerable copyrighted elements of Star Trek, including its settings, characters, species,...

After months of accusations, legal maneuvers, and increasingly strained “battle station” jokes, the long-brewing Star Trek fan film lawsuit has finally been settled. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount Pictures, CBS Studios, Axanar Studios, and Alec Peters have all reached an agreement about Peters’ crowdfunded fan film Axanar, ending the need for the jury trial that was scheduled for later this month.

In the past, Paramount and CBS have turned something of a blind eye to amateur Star Trek productions, presumably on the grounds that they increase the fierce fan loyalty that keeps the franchise alive and healthy. Peters drew the companies’ attention, though, after raising more than a million dollars in crowdfunding money and shooting a professional-looking 20-minute proof of concept for his movie (based on an unseen but mentioned incident from an early Star Trek episode). What followed was a circuitous legal attempt to work out things like...

Set phasers to “peace.” After more than a year of legal combat over the proposed Star Trek fan film Axanar, a settlement has been reached between the filmmakers, Alec Peters and his Axanar Productions, Inc., and Paramount and CBS Studios.

In the settlement, both Axanar Productions and Peters have agreed to acknowledge that the film, and the earlier prequel short film Prelude To Axanar, “were not approved by Paramount or CBS, and that both works crossed boundaries acceptable to CBS and Paramount relating to copyright law.”

Axanar and Peters have also agreed to make “substantial” alterations to the final version of Axanar before any release, and to ensure that any future fan films produced by the company “will be in accordance with the “Guidelines for Fan Films” distributed by CBS and Paramount in June 2016.

The trouble started in 2015 after plans were announced for the feature-length Star Trek: Axanar, based on...

Set phasers to “peace.” After more than a year of legal combat over the proposed Star Trek fan film Axanar, a settlement has been reached between the filmmakers, Alec Peters and his Axanar Productions, Inc., and Paramount and CBS Studios. In the settlement, both Axanar Productions and Peters have agreed to acknowledge that the film, and the earlier prequel short film Prelude To Axanar, “were not approved by Paramount or CBS, and that both works crossed boundaries…...

Set phasers to “peace.” After more than a year of legal combat over the proposed Star Trek fan film Axanar, a settlement has been reached between the filmmakers, Alec Peters and his Axanar Productions, Inc., and Paramount and CBS Studios. In the settlement, both Axanar Productions and Peters have agreed to acknowledge that the film, and the earlier prequel short film Prelude To Axanar, “were not approved by Paramount or CBS, and that both works crossed boundaries…...

Paramount Pictures, CBS Studios and producer Alec Peters and his Axanar Productions have settled a lawsuit over Peters’ crowdfunded “Star Trek” fan film “Axanar,” according to a joint statement released Friday by the parties. As part of the settlement, Peters has agreed to make “substantial changes” to “Axanar” and also affirmed that future “Star Trek” fan films produced by him or his company will follow the “Guidelines for Fan Films” distributed by CBS and Paramount in June 2016. “Paramount and CBS continue to be big believers in fan fiction and fan creativity,” they said in the statement. “They encourage amateur filmmakers to.

Stand down from battle stations. Star Trek rights holders CBS and Paramount have seen the logic of settling a copyright suit against Alec Peters, who solicited money on crowdfunding sites and hired professionals to make a YouTube short and a script of a planned feature film focused on a fictional event — a Starfleet captain's victory in a war with the Klingon Empire — referenced in the original 1960s Gene Roddenberry television series. Thanks to the settlement, CBS and Paramount won't be going to trial on Stardate 47634.44, known to most as Jan. 31, 2017.

According to a joint statement, "Paramount Pictures Corporation, CBS Studios Inc., Axanar Productions, Inc. and Alec Peters are...

After a months-long legal battle that drew in everyone from the Klingons to the Abrams, the Star Trek lawsuit will be decided by a jury, Deadline reports. CBS and Paramount filed the copyright infringement case against the makers of Axanar, a fan-produced film that’s looking (and costing) a bit too much like the real thing to remain in simple homage territory. Defendant Alec Peters’ evasive legal maneuvers have involved asking CBS and Paramount to distill the essence of Star Trek, and now he’s arguing that infringement cannot be determined until the film is finished. He’s asking everyone to reserve judgment, if you will.

But U.S. District Court Judge R. Gary Klausner disagrees, and has found an “objective substantial similarity to the Star Trek copyrighted works,” so he’s sending the matter to the jury to determine the “subjective substantial similarity.” But the judge’s ruling—which...

A federal judge in Los Angeles has given Paramount Pictures and CBS Studios the green light to boldly go where no lawyer has gone before – before a jury to stop production of a Star Trek fan film. The legal drama started a year ago when CBS and Paramount filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the producers of a full-length motion picture called Axanar, which takes its name from a famed battle on the planet Axanar, as described in the original TV series. Alec Peters…...

Paramount Pictures and CBS have scored major successes in their copyright lawsuit over Axanar, a 20-minute YouTube video and a proposed feature-length version touted as a professional-quality Star Trek fan film. But a California federal judge on Wednesday stopped short of declaring the Star Trek rights holders the victors in the closely followed case, reserving for a jury the key question of whether the works would be seen by lay people as substantially similar to older Star Trek films and TV shows.

The lawsuit was filed almost exactly a year ago after Alec Peters' Axanar Productions aimed to raise more than $1 million on Kickstarter for a...

The copyright infringement lawsuit against the "independent" fan-film productionStar Trek: Axanar is a little more than two months away. But now both sides are waiting to find out if their remote chances of ending (or mostly ending) this case before trial will be granted by the judge.Erin Ranahan, the attorney representing Axanar Productions and its principal Alec Peters, told the federal court in filings Monday that so far, CBS Studios Inc. and Paramount Pictures - the owners of Star Trek - have failed to prove not only that Axanar unlawfully infringed on Star Trek, but that the studios suffered any harm from it.In fact, Ranahan said, Axanar uses characters so obscure, even the two most recent Star Trek film directors J.J. Abrams and Justin Lin didn't know who they were. And more, Ranahan ...

If there is any chance for the "independent" fan-filmStar Trek: Axanarto be made, the people behind the production better hope the studios that own Star Trek don't get what they are demanding in court.The two sides of the copyright infringement lawsuit against Axanar Productions and its principal Alec Peters exchanged motions for summary judgment on Wednesday, as expected, with hundreds of pages of documents suddenly becoming available for public consumption.Among those documents were a series of answersDavid Grossman, the attorney representing CBS Studios Inc. and Paramount Pictures in the lawsuit, presented to Axanar attorneys just before Halloween. The documents, released by Axanar as part of its request for summary judgment in its favor, shared exactly what the two studios hope to collect ...

On Wednesday, a federal judge was told that while Paramount Pictures and CBS have produced a "limited number" of Star Trek television episodes and films, "they do not not own a copyright to the idea of Star Trek, or the Star Trek universe as a whole."

The proposition comes from Alec Peters' Axanar Productions, which put out on YouTube a 20-minute "mockumentary" titled Prelude to Axanar and was in the midst of pursuing a feature-length version touted as a professional-quality Star Trek fan film before being hit with a copyright lawsuit. The litigation survived an initial motion to dismiss,...

The attorneys representing CBS Studios and Paramount Pictures are demanding the producer of an embattled Star Trek fan-film turn over hundreds of emails as part of an ongoing copyright infringement lawsuit.Jennifer Jason, an attorney representing the Star Trek studios, filed the demand with a Los Angeles federal court on Thursday claiming Axanar Productions principal Alec Peters failed to share the email communications hes had with a former director on his Star Trek project, and even with CBS itself. Jason not only wants the emails, but wants a second chance to depose Peters ahead of trial to talk about those missing documents.The move is part of an ongoing lawsuit filed by CBS and Paramount against Peters and Axanar overStar Trek: Axanar, which raised a reported $1.5 million. The studios have ...

Paramount Pictures and CBS TV have drawn a line in the sand to stop the creation of fan-made films based on Star Trek. Because of the increasing high-quality of fan projects like Star Trek Axanar, the two big corporations have initiated a series of new rules designed to limit the scope and proliferation of the many independently made Star Trek projects. Is this fair?

Independently made Star Trek projects are nothing new. The first Trek fan-made movie was filmed in Super 8 back in 1978. Since the introduction of the internet, Star Trek fan films and ongoing series have exploded in number. Within the last decade, we’ve had Trek fan series like Starship Exeter, Starship Farragut, Star Trek: Intrepid, Star Trek the New Voyages (Aka Star Trek Phase 2) and, the best one of all, Star Trek Continues, to name a few. We’ve also had full-length independent films like...

The two sides in the copyright infringement battle over an "independent" fan-film might not agree on a settlement, but it looks like they've cleared one hurdle facing discovery.David Grossman, the attorney representing Paramount Pictures and CBS Corp. in their lawsuit against Axanar Productions and its principal Alec Peters, has filed what is known as a stipulated protective order intended to keep some information collected in discovery confidential. Discovery, of course, the process where both sides collect information from each other in order to help support their positions in a legal dispute.This particular order, which was signed by both Grossman and Axanar attorney Erin Ranahan on Tuesday, is intended to keep discovery moving at a fast pace, putting in place a pre-approved procedure on ...

Before there was a fancy warehouse studio constructed in the heart of the Los Angeles film community, Alec Peters had his sights set on something smaller. And yeah, it was probably a little too small.Peters who along with his "independent" fan-film company Axanar Productions, are defendants in a copyright infringement suit from the studios that own Star Trek had wanted to shoot his "Prelude to Axanar" short in a small city called Victorville, about 90 minutes northeast of Los Angeles. Peters had found an old linen warehouse here he felt would be perfect to film the short he hoped would raise the money for his full-length feature "Star Trek: Axanar."But one member of Peter's entourage wasn't keen on the idea. And it wasn't just anybody, it was "Prelude's" director, Christian Gossett."It was ...

Last December, Paramount Pictures and CBS Corp. filed a lawsuit against Alec Peters and Axanar Productions for copyright infringement regarding Star Trek.Stating he was making a fan-film and couldnt understand why he was being sued, Peters told The Hollywood Reporter hed long asked CBS to give [him] guidelines similar to what Lucasfilm had done for fans of Star Wars" fan-films. Any infringement was only because no clear rules existed.There is nothing, Alec later wrote on his website, that the Axanar team would like to see more than a set of guidelines from CBS so all fan-films can operate in a way that benefits everyone."This past week, Paramount and CBS released those long-requested guidelines, a common set of rules which, if followed, both corporations say they will not object to, or take ...

The producer of the “Star Trek” fan film “Axanar” has responded to the new guidelines set forth by Paramount and CBS for future fan projects. “These guidelines appear to have been tailor-made to shut down all of the major fan productions and stifle fandom,” executive producer Alec Peters said in a statement to TheWrap. “In no way can that be seen as supportive or encouraging, which is very disheartening. The 10 new guidelines include provisions that state no fan project can use the name “Star Trek” in any way except for a subtitle identifying it as a fan production. In addition,...

CBS Corp. and Paramount Pictures are reportedly working on Star Trek fan-film guidelines that could change the world such hobby productions currently exist. And Alec Peters who, along with his fan-film company Axanar Productions, are being sued by the two studios for copyright infringement was not invited.So Peters thought he would put together a fan-film coalition of his own to draft guidelines. Except it now seems no one really showed up.Just days after Peters revealed his proposed fan-film guidelines as well as the producers he said contributed to the discussion, nearly all of them disavowed not just the proposed guidelines, but Axanar and Peters themselves."I want to make myself quite clear on this point," Nick Cook, the producer of the fan production "Starship Intrepid" told his Facebook ...

Settlement talks apparently continue between the studios that own Star Trek CBS Corp. and Paramount Pictures and a fan-film they said went to far, "Star Trek: Axanar." With the announcement of those talks a week ago, the studios also surprised everyone by saying it was creating guidelines for fan-films.Not to be left out, "Axanar" which appears to be the very reason why CBS and Paramount are looking to create fan-film guidelines to begin with have come up with some suggestions of their own. And Axanar Productions' principal, Alec Peters, has apparently brought a few other fan-film producers on board.AxaMonitor, a site dedicated solely to the copyright infringement lawsuit CBS and Paramount filed against Axanar Productions and Peters last December, says it has obtained a copy of the proposed ...

CBS Corp. and Paramount Pictures first went their separate ways at the end of 2005 and they might be doing it again.Although "Star Trek: Beyond" producer J.J. Abrams insists the copyright infringement lawsuit the studios filed against an "independent" fan-film was "going away," it seems Abrams was really only able to speak on behalf of one of the plaintiffs. The other, CBS, is far from ready to settle. And a countersuit filed by Axanar Productions and its principal Alec Peters might have been enough to convince CBS to continue the lawsuit whether Paramount is on board or not.One source connected to CBS who asked not to be named said the countersuit "acts in bad faith during settlement talks.""It's an inflammatory thing that will cause CBS to withdraw from settlement discussions and continue ...

If Paramount and CBS are indeed in the process of settling its copyright infringement lawsuit against an "independent" fan-film, it will now have to settle two.That's because the attorney representing Axanar Productions and its principal, Alec Peters, have filed a countersuit against Paramount Pictures and CBS Corp., claiming that not only has the fan-film not violated any of the Star Trek copyrights, but that the studios should be barred from suing Axanar over it again in the future."Plaintiffs have not and will not suffer any market harm as a result of the creation and distribution of defendants' work," Axanar attorney Erin Ranahan wrote in her counterclaim, filed with the federal court on Monday. "Instead, these works offer free promotional value to plaintiffs. These works are not intended ...

This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the iconic Star Trek franchise, which was celebrated this weekend during a fan event on the Paramount Pictures lot, where the new trailer for Star Trek Beyond debuted. The event also featured a tribute to the late great Leonard Nimoy, where a street was named in his honor on the lot. Producer J.J. Abrams, director Justin Lin and cast members such as Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Karl Urban were also on hand for the event, where J.J. Abrams delivered some news that will make many fans happy.

Back in late December, Paramount Pictures and CBS filed a lawsuit against the producers of the Star Trek fan film Axanar, which had raised over $638,000 through its Kickstarter campaign. The film had been set to start shooting late last year, with Kate Vernon, Richard Hatch, Gary Graham, J.G. Hertzler, Kim Fitzgerald and Alec Peters set to star.

During an interview at a fan event for the upcoming film “Star Trek: Beyond,” J.J. Abrams revealed that Paramount will be dropping a lawsuit against a Kickstarter-funded fan film at the behest of both him and “Star Trek: Beyond” director Justin Lin. The film, called “Prelude To Anaxar,” is a 20-minute docudrama that follows the Battle of Anaxar, a major conflict between the Federation and the Klingons. Made in 2014 by Alec Peters, the film received over $100,000 in Kickstarter funding and has received over 2 million views on YouTube. Recently, Paramount and CBS filed a copyright infringement lawsuit seeking...

Lawyers from both sides of a copyright infringement case against an "independent" Star Trek fan-film met in court for the first time Monday. And afterward, one of the defendants in that case was optimistic even announcing plans to restart production of "Star Trek: Axanar" next year.But Tuesday, Judge R. Gary Klausner dropped a huge hammer on "Axanar," denying completely the fan-film's motion to dismiss. Which means the suit filed by CBS Corp. and Paramount Pictures against Axanar Productions and its principal, Alec Peters, will move forward at full force."We should be hearing in a few weeks on Judge Klausner's decision on our motion to dismiss," Peters wrote Monday on his Axanar Productions blog, soon after the Los Angeles circuit court hearing ended. "And despite a certain conspiracy nut's ...

A California federal judge is allowing Paramount Pictures and CBS to boldly go where no Star Trek rights holder has gone before. The two studios are suing over Star Trek: Prelude to Axanar, a short film, as well as Axanar, a proposed feature-length picture that's been raising money on Kickstarter and other crowdfunding platforms. In response to the lawsuit, Alec Peters' Axanar Productions demanded more specificity about what copyrighted elements were actually infringed. The plaintiffs then amended the complaint, which drew ridicule from an attempt to take ownership of everything from "pointy ears" to the Klingon language. Nevertheless, on

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The attorney representing a fan-film production being sued for copyright infringement is pushing even harder to yank the Klingon language out of the lawsuit, fueling a new battle over the fictitious language.Erin Ranahan, an attorney representing Axanar Productions and its principal, Alec Peters, says CBS Corp. and Paramount Pictures can't claim ownership to the language, which Marc Okrand created as a work-for-hire in the early 1980s. And while fans might not want to think about food and Klingons in the same sentence, Ranahan doesn't have to look any further than the kitchen to defend her position."Indeed, like recipes in a cookbook, while the Klingon dictionary may be protected from wholesale copying, the individual Klingon words contained therein and expressions flowing from the Klingon ...

Fans of the Star Trek novels would certainly recognize the name Dave Galanter. Yet, the author considers himself more of an occasional novelist rather than a career one.His library includes a few books he co-wrote with Greg Brodeur, like the 1994 "Star Trek: The Next Generation" novel "Foreign Foes," and the 2001 two-parter "Dead Zone" and "Forever Dark" in the Maximum Warp series. He even penned a "Star Trek: New Voyages" episode, "Enemy: Starfleet," that was released in 2011. In fact, Galanter considers "New Voyages" co-creator James Cawley a friend.Despite spending his days in the world of technology outside of writing, Galanter loves Star Trek, and loves pitching in wherever someone asks. So when Cawley put Galanter and Alec Peters together soon after "Enemy: Starfleet" was produced, Galanter ...

The lawsuit brought by Paramount and CBS over Axanar, a crowdfunded Star Trek film, continues to chart a course for exploration of the intellectual property galaxy. To quickly review, Star Trek rights holders, despite tolerating decades of fan-made works, sued Axanar producers led by Alec Peters in December. This drew a motion to dismiss that called upon Paramount and CBS to do a better job describing the copyrighted elements allegedly being infringed. Two weeks ago, Paramount and CBS did just that with a well-decorated amended complaint that claimed ownership to such things as the pointy ears of the Vulcans, the gold shirts and triangular medals that

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Last week, CBS and Paramount sued the producer of the crowdfunded “Star Trek” fan film “Axanar,” and according to a First Amendment and intellectual property lawyer, it’s not all that surprising. “This appears to simply be the creation of a work based on characters and elements of the protected ‘Star Trek’ franchise,'” Lincoln Bandlow, a partner at Fox Rothschild, Llp, told TheWrap. “Essentially, Axanar appears to just be a situation where the producer is taking characters based on a well-known work because they know people love it.” The companies are going after producer Alec Peters of Axanar Productions...

Star Trek started its long journey into the final frontier in 1966 with the premiere of its original series, and to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the franchise that went where no man has gone before, the U.S. Postal Service has unveiled four stamps dedicated to the cult sci-fi series.

The four retro-inspired Forever stamps – designed by Heads of State under the art direction of Antonio Alcalá – showcase the Starship Enterprise, the Starfleet insignia, a crewmember in a transporter as well as Spock's iconic Vulcan salute hand gesture. The base...

In the wake of the news that broke in the trade papers this week about Paramount and CBS filing a lawsuit against the upcoming crowdsourced fan film "Star Trek: Axanar," the project's co-writer and producer Alec Peters has given a statement which was published by Bleeding Cool.

Citing disappointment of learning about the suit via industry publications, Peters says he hopes to discuss solutions with all parties that can be mutually beneficial. Peters' statement in full:

"This morning, I was greeted with news that our production company, Axanar Productions and I, personally, am being sued by CBS Studios, Inc. and Paramount Pictures Corporation for copyright infringement of Star Trek.

First of all, I was disappointed to learn about this through an article in an industry trade. For several years, I've worked with a number of people at CBS on Star Trek-related projects, and I would have hoped those...

In the wake of the news that broke in the trade papers this week about Paramount and CBS filing a lawsuit against the upcoming crowdsourced fan film "Star Trek: Axanar," the project's co-writer and producer Alec Peters has given a statement which was published by Bleeding Cool.

Citing disappointment of learning about the suit via industry publications, Peters says he hopes to discuss solutions with all parties that can be mutually beneficial. Peters' statement in full:

"This morning, I was greeted with news that our production company, Axanar Productions and I, personally, am being sued by CBS Studios, Inc. and Paramount Pictures Corporation for copyright infringement of Star Trek.

First of all, I was disappointed to learn about this through an article in an industry trade. For several years, I've worked with a number of people at CBS on Star Trek-related projects, and I would have hoped those...

Alec Peters, the producer of the crowdfunded “Star Trek” fan film “Axanar,” has responded to the lawsuit filed Wednesday by Paramount Pictures and CBS Studios against the project. “Like all fan films, ‘Axanar’ is a love letter to a beloved franchise,” Peters said in a statement to TheWrap. “For nearly 50 years, Star Trek’s devotees have been creating new Star Trek stories to share with fellow fans. That’s all we’re trying to do here.” Peters also stated he was disappointed that he learned about the lawsuit by reading about it in the press, rather than being contacted by the studios directly.

There may be a hull breach into “Star Trek: Axanar.”

The crowdfunded Star Trek indie film raised over a million dollar had generated plenty of publicity in the past year. The project even recruited notable names to the project including Richard Hatch, Tony Todd and Kate Vernon.

If Paramount Pictures and CBS have anything to do with it—they’ll make sure it won’t even be on the launching pad.

Last week, the studios filed a lawsuit in California federal court that “Star Trek: Axanar” is a violation of their intellectual property.

"The Axanar Works infringe Plaintiffs’ works by using innumerable copyrighted elements of Star Trek, including its settings, characters, species, and themes," written in the complaint.

Producer Alec Peters pitched the film to investors that it is not a fan film, but will be a high-quality Star Trek film with a fully-professional crew. Earlier this year,...

It turns out there's a limit to how far studios are willing to let fan fiction creators go with their intellectual property. And that limit is an independent movie with a $1 million-plus budget. At least, that seems to be the case with "Axanar," which touted itself as the "first fully-professional, independent 'Star Trek' film" and has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars through crowdfunding. Paramount and CBS have allowed "Star Trek"-based fan productions in the past -- including ones that use characters from the series, sometimes portrayed by the same actors -- but none with the kind of budget and ambition of "Axanar." Also, there's a little matter of an upcoming "Star Trek" film and that new TV series.   The lawsuit (which The Hollywood Reporter uploaded here) asks for damages and an injunction preventing the "Axanar" team from producing and distributing the film. "Axanar" executive producer (and...

Earlier this year, a prelude to a Star Trek fan film was released called Axanar. I've posted that 21-minute short for you to watch below. That short was crowdfunded and it served as a stepping stone to a much larger project. The team that made that launched another crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo for a full-length feature film, and so far it has raised over $1.13 million.

Over the years, Paramount and CBS — the rights holders to the Star Trek franchise — have supported fan films and even encouraged them at times! But this week they slapped the production company of this Star Trek film with a lawsuit. I guess it just got too big for them, and they felt threatened by it.

It probably didn't help that Axanar is officially described as the "first independent" Star Trek film, and not a fan film. Here's the official description of the project:

Axanar is the first fully-professional,...

Star Trek fans have funneled over $1 million in crowdfunding to help create Axanar, an independently produced, professional-quality prequel film. But the grassroots campaign has hit a major snag: On Wednesday, Paramount Pictures and CBS Studios filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against producer Alec Peters in California district court, The Wrap reports.

"The 'Axanar' works infringes plaintiffs' works by using innumerable copyrighted elements of 'Star Trek,' including its settings, characters, species, and themes," reads the complaint, which targets both Axanar and that film's own prequel, Prelude to Axanar. CBS...

Updated, Dec. 20, 2015 9:42 a.m. Pt: Paramount Pictures and CBS Studios issued a joint statement on the suit to TheWrap. Parmount Pictures and CBS Studios are suing the producer of the crowdfunded “Star Trek” fan film, “Axanar.” The companies are going after producer Alec Peters of Axanar Productions for copyright infringement in a suit filed Wednesday in California district court. The suit concerns “Axanar” and the prequel film “Prelude to Axanar,” collectively referred to as “the ‘Axanar’ Works.” “The ‘Axanar’ Works infringes plaintiffs’ works by using innumerable copyrighted elements of ‘Star Trek,’ including its settings, characters, species, and themes,” the complaint.

For decades, Paramount and CBS have tolerated and even encouraged fans of the Star Trek franchise to use their imagination at will, but on Tuesday the entertainment companies went to their battle stations and launched a legal missile at a production company touting the first independent Star Trek film. Axanar, the subject of a lawsuit filed on Friday in California federal court, is no ordinary Star Trek film. The forthcoming feature film (preceded by a short film) is the source of more than $1 million in crowdfunding on Kickstarter and Indiegogo. The producers, led by Alec Peters, aim to make a studio-quality film.

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Paramount and CBS have tolerated and often encouraged "Star Trek" fans to have fun with their property, allowing productions of various fan films to go forward with their projects so long as they weren't commercial endeavors.

That attitude seems to have changed though as the companies have filed a lawsuit in California federal court over "Star Trek Axanar," an upcoming feature film that is coming together thanks to more than $1 million in crowdfunding on Kickstarter and Indiegogo - one of the biggest film projects in crowdfunding history.

Lead producer Alec Peters has previously indicated the desire to make a studio-quality film with the project and has employed the help of numerous professionals, many of whom have worked on Star Trek itself, to ensure it is of quality.

The work, effectively a prequel to the 1960s series, follows legendary Starfleet captain Garth of Izar. As the project is unlicensed, the danger...

Paramount and CBS have tolerated and often encouraged "Star Trek" fans to have fun with their property, allowing productions of various fan films to go forward with their projects so long as they weren't commercial endeavors.

That attitude seems to have changed though as the companies have filed a lawsuit in California federal court over "Star Trek Axanar," an upcoming feature film that is coming together thanks to more than $1 million in crowdfunding on Kickstarter and Indiegogo - one of the biggest film projects in crowdfunding history.

Lead producer Alec Peters has previously indicated the desire to make a studio-quality film with the project and has employed the help of numerous professionals, many of whom have worked on Star Trek itself, to ensure it is of quality.

The work, effectively a prequel to the 1960s series, follows legendary Starfleet captain Garth of Izar. As the project is unlicensed, the danger...

Guns, guns and more guns.

Machina Prime premiered its live-action short “Loadout: Going In Hot” today, which is the latest adaptation of bring video games to life. It’s based on the video game shooter “Loadout” by Edge of Reality and also free for Psn members today on PlayStation.

Wayside Creations recruited Richard Hatch as Captain Gaz, to lead a silly, looney crew of a space freighter against the odds of other haulers and shipping companies who want to steel their business.

The short is directed by Vincent Talenti (“Red Star,” “Fallout: Nuka Break”). It also stars Bonnie Bower (“Fallout: Nuka Break,” “Escape”), Matt Mercer (“Attack on Titan,” “Iron Man: Rise of Technovore”), Jon Enge (“Mars Rising Films”), Becca Hardy (“Off-Season”) and Circus-Szalewski (“Fallout: Nuka Break”).

Latino-Review had an exclusive phone interview with Richard Hatch on his role and his love for good story and sci-fi.

Check out the full...

Richard Hatch has been a favorite of genre fans for decades, after starring in all three versions of Battlestar Galactica, the original movie the 1970s TV series and the highly-popular remake. The actor returns to the sci-fi genre with a unique short film entitled Loadout: Going In Hot, which will debut on Machinima Prime on December 16. The short is inspired by the popular third-person shooter that was created, developed, and released by Edge of Reality, starring Richard Hatch as Captain Gaz.

In a novel twist on the well-traveled sci-fi genre, Loadout: Going In Hot follows a group of "merchant marines in space" who compete with other local haulers in the highly profitable (and extremely dangerous) antiquities and curios shipping business. Like other critically acclaimed sci-fi properties (Firefly, Battlestar Galactica), Loadout: Going In Hot is peppered with genre action and violence while focusing on character development and interactions. I recently had...