Nearly a month after producer JJ Abrams and director Justin Lin went public with their call for Paramount to drop its litigation against the crowdfunded Star Trek fan-film Axanar, Paramount's lawyers have told a judge that its suit is still a live issue.
Last month's Abrams announcement stated that Paramount would shortly be dropping its case (which includes a dubious claim about the copyrightability of synthetic languages like Klingon), something that Paramount confirmed in a later tweet, but a new filing from CBS and Paramount to a Ninth Circuit judge states that the suit is moving forward.
Axanar's producers are seeking a declaratory judgment from the court, stating that their film is fair use.
Given that the judge had rejected a motion to dismiss, defendant Axanar Productions had a deadline to file an answer to the claims. On May 23, it did so and also filed a counterclaim seeking declaratory relief that its works are non-infringing. However, in an unusual stroke, Axanar also explicitly mentioned Abrams' comments as well as a tweeted statement from Paramount and CBS confirming settlement discussions and indicating work on a set of fan-film guidelines.
Now, instead of asking for an extension, Paramount and CBS have filed their own answer to the counterclaim admitting public statements, saying such statements speak for themselves, but otherwise acting as though the lawsuit is moving forward. The plaintiffs, for example, deny that the works in controversy represent a fair use of their copyrights.
