TAKING THE STAND? The judge’s evidentiary rulings last week were more tentative than we thought, and Axanar’s attorneys make a last-ditch effort to get J.J. Abrams and Justin Lin on the stand. Read more » (Filed 1/18/17)

LACK OF REDACTION The judge in the Axanar copyright lawsuit ruled against efforts by defense attorneys to exclude evidence hurtful to defendants Alec Peters and his Axanar Productions, including more of the beleaguered production’s finances. Read more » (Filed 1/18/17)

PART 2: HIDDEN BOOKS One member’s resignation shines a spotlight on possible flaws in the scope of Axanar’s independent financial review committee, especially on revelations the committee isn’t examining all of Axanar’s books. Read more » (Filed 1/16/17)

PART 1: INDEPENDENT RESIGNATION One of the heretofore unknown members of Axanar’s avowed independent financial review board resigned, following what producer Alec Peters alleged was harassment by AxaMonitor. Read more » (Filed 1/14/17)

EVIDENTLY EXCLUDED A federal judge appeared to grant efforts by attorneys on both sides of the Axanar copyright lawsuit to exclude witnesses and evidence they hoped would further their case before a jury. Who won or lost what? Read more » (Filed 1/11/17)

WHO OWNS AXANAR’S STUDIO? That mystery, the subject of an AxaMonitor investigation, deepened when court documents revealed an unknown company, solely owned by Alec Peters, stands to profit from the commercial facility. Read more » (Filed 1/7/17)

AXANAR OPPOSES studios’ attempt to exclude altered financial evidence and testimony from J.J. Abrams and Justin Lin. Both sides filed opposition to motions to dismiss major evidence and witnesses. Read more » (Filed 1/6/17)

FOR THE LOVE OF SPOCK Guest commentator Bjorn Munson muses on the past year of Axanar, its prospects at trial and the damage done to fan films and fandom in general. Read more » (Filed 1/8/17)

APPEALING PROSPECTS How realistic is Axanar’s hopeful spin on losing its fair use defense, focusing instead on an appeal to the ‘liberal’ Ninth Circuit? Read more » (Filed 1/4/17)

FAIR USE DENIED While a Federal judge denied summary judgment to both sides in the Axanar copyright infringement lawsuit, he dealt a major blow to the defendants’ reliance on fair use as a defense in the case. The case moves on to trial January 31. Read more » (Filed 1/4/17)

‘e’ vIHarlaHbe’! Despite a clever, headline-grabbing effort by the Language Creation Society to draw attention to the copyright ability of constructed languages like Klingon, a federal judge turned aside an effort to attach the issue to the Axanar case. Read more » (Filed 1/5/17)

LAWYERS HANG ON Axanar told its donors it not only plans to to pursue its copyright infringement case to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals but that its pro bono law firm, Winston & Strawn, would stand by the beleaguered project. Read more » (Filed 1/5/17)

JURY SELECTION The questions proposed by both sides in the Axanar copyright lawsuit give hints about what kind of jury they hope will hear the case when it goes to trial later this month. See all the questions. Read more » (Filed 1/3/17)

COMIC LOOK To mark the one-year anniversary of CBS and Paramount‘s copyright infringement against producer Alec Peters and Axanar Productions, AxaMonitor published an illustrated guide explaining all the legal maneuverings. Read more » (Filed 12/30/16)

2016’s TOP STORIES The end of the year was also the one-year anniversary of the filing of CBS and Paramount’s copyright infringement lawsuit against producer Alec Peters and his Axanar Productions. AxaMonitor‘s year in review produced the Top 10 Axanar Stories of 2016. Read more » (Filed 1/2/17)

THE STUDIOS behind Star Trek are not about to let the Klingon language take over their copyright case against Axanar after attorneys asked a federal judge to punish the Language Creation Society for wasting the court’s time. Geek Nation » (Filed 1/2/17)

DOMINATED The list of the past month’s Top 10 AxaMonitor articles was dominated by news about both sides in the lawsuit seeking summary judgment from the judge, with a particular spotlight on revelations about lavish personal spending by Alec Peters of Axanar donor funds. Read more » (Filed 12/22/16)

BEARING WITNESS The plaintiffs and defense in the copyright infringement case brought against producer Alec Peters and his Axanar Productions have released their list of expected witnesses. Peters is slated for eight hours of testimony; directors J.J. Abrams and Justin Lin are also on the list. Read more » (Filed 12/21/16)

FILINGS SHINE LIGHT on weaknesses in the Axanar defense team’s theory of the case, including Peters’ attempts to alter financial records and improperly use the testimony of Star Trek producer J.J. Abrams and director Justin Lin. Read more » (Filed 12/21/16)

UNDER CLOAK? Attorneys filed motions Friday seeking to exclude evidence from Axanar’s upcoming copyright infringement trial. Among them? The defense challenged the admissibility of defendant Alec Peters’ damning financial records; plaintiffs sought to exclude testimony from Star Trek directors J.J. Abrams and Justin Lin. Read more » (Filed 12/16/16)

TRIAL SCHEDULE Downloadable timeline in PNG and PDF formats. Read more » (Filed 12/14/16)

CANCELED HEARING Just as he did with the defense motion to dismiss the Axanar copyright case, federal judge Gary Klausner canceled the hearing scheduled Monday on the motions for summary judgment filed by both plaintiffs and defendants. What’s behind the cancellation and what happens next? Read more » (Filed 12/14/16)

MISCONCEPTIONS about the studios’ dealings with fan films, stemming from the Axanar copyright lawsuit, are what led to the fan production guidelines, a Paramount executive confirmed in a formerly confidential deposition, stymieing Axanar’s hope for confirmation there was nothing to guide fans making Star Trek films. Read more » (Filed 12/13/16)

CONVOLUTED CONNECTIONS Mapping out the tangled dealings between Alec Peters’ California and Georgia business concerns, and his Atlanta attorney. Read more » (Updated 12/12/16)

HIDING FROM THE PUBLIC A federal judge admonished attorneys on both sides of the Axanar lawsuit, denying a defense effort to hide a document shedding light on Axanar’s professional ambitions, and plaintiffs’ attempt to make a Paramount official’s testimony confidential. Read more » (Filed 12/10/16)

AXANAR’S BROKE Producer Alec Peters appears to have spent more than $1.4 million with no film to show for it, according to his own expert witness, part of a new set of evidence submitted by each side to the other’s opposition to their motions for summary judgment. Read more » (Filed 12/9/16)

ATTORNEYS ATTACK pre-trial evidence in the lawsuit Axanar faces for allegedly infringing on Star Trek copyrights held by CBS and Paramount. Both sides have asked the judge to rule on the case before it’s scheduled to go before a jury, and both sides opposed each other’s motion. Read more » (Filed 12/6/16)

ENMITY In a guest commentary, an anonymous reader publicly worries about the information vacuum on Axanar’s website, dashed hopes as the lawsuit moves forward and how the Axanar controversy may have permanently riven the fan community. Read more » (Filed 11/27/16)

FACT CHECK Following CBS and Paramount’s allegations of lavish spending by Alec Peters of funds from Axanar donors, he tries to explain the context of the financial information. Read what we learned when we fact-checked the context. Read more » (Filed 11/22/16)

PETERS SPAMS KICKSTARTER Kickstarter deletes dozens of posts spammed on the Axanar page by producer Alec Peters, who follows up by blaming backers who questioned his spending, silencing more critics and ending refunds. Read more » (Updated 11/22/16)

TOP STORIES for October-November. Alec Peters’ secret trove of emails became the focus of a flurry of pre-trial motions, financial disclosures and further depositions. Plus, our top tweets and site statistics. Read more » (Filed 11/23/16)

REDACTION REACTION Amid calls by Axanar’s surrogate for sanctions against studio attorneys for inadvertently disclosing confidential financial information, AxaMonitor was asked to retract what plaintiffs said about producer Alec Peters’ lavish spending. We refused. Read more » (Filed 11/18/16)

WHERE DID ALL THE MONEY GO? In their summary judgment motion, lawyers for CBS and Paramount detail the lavish spending of donors’ money by Axanar producer Alec Peters and describe the failure of the defense’s fair use argument. Read more » (Filed 11/16/16)

‘SQUASHING CREATIVITY’ In her call for summary judgment, Axanar attorney Erin Ranahan claims CBS and Paramount Pictures are suing Star Trek’s biggest fan, Alec Peters, for exercising the kind of creativity encouraged by the fair use provisions of U.S. copyright law. Read more » (Filed 11/17/16)

‘BAD CALL’ Producer Alec Peters told a Los Angeles Comic Con panel he regretted how money he raised for Axanar led to mission creep and a ‘bad call’ on a three-year lease on a warehouse he had built into a commercial studio. Read more » (Filed 11/3/16)

HERE TODAY, GONE TODAY Axanar’s surrogate blogger, Jonathan Lane, launched a $45,000 GoFundMe campaign to pay for its $15,000-a-month warehouse and studio rent, utilities and other expenses, confirming reports Axanar was out of cash. The campaign was abruptly removed Thursday at Alec Peters’ behest after numerous complaints to GoFundMe. Read more » (Filed 11/3/16)

WADING IN Producer Alec Peters wades into rough waters to confront increasingly critical Kickstarter backers concerned about the lack of progress on Axanar and Peters having paid himself a full-time salary using donors’ money. An AxaMonitor Fact Check Read more » (Filed 10/10/16)

RUFFLED FEATHERS In donor updates, producer Alec Peters seeks to smooth donors’ ruffled feathers, while talking up how well his surrogate, Jonathan Lane’s blog, Fan Film Factor, covers the lawsuit. Read more » (Filed 10/6/16)

A DEEPER LOOK at Axanar’s Annual Report. It took some time to transcribe, code, sort and analyze the data, but a pattern of possible problems emerged — from unreported salaries to ballooning costs and repeated deficit spending. Read more » (Filed 3/25/16)

AMBITION vs. ACHIEVEMENT New analysis of Axanar’s finances demonstrates that at each significant stage in its fundraising history, ambition appears to have outstripped its fundraising capabilities, and spending has always outpaced what it has publicly reported about its income. Read more » (Filed 4/1/16)

‘PRELUDE’ DIRECTOR Christian Gossett goes on the record in the TrekZONE Spotlight video podcast with more details about how the management of Axanar by his long-time friend, producer Alec Peters, drove away Gossett and many of the other crew who successfully created Prelude to Axanar. TrekZONE Spotlight YouTube Channel. (Filed 7/2/16)

BUSTING THE MYTHBUSTING What the facts have to say about Axanar’s so-called myths regarding its alleged financial gain, its warehouse-cum-studio and money’s role in Axanar’s copyright infringement lawsuit. Read more » (Filed 3/17/16)

FEATURED ARTICLE The Merchandise article highlights the full line of ship models, posters, art, patches and other products Axanar offers in exchange for donations to the production. Read more »

“SOMETHING’S NOT RIGHT” with Axanar, says former Axanar actor Tony Todd in a weekend interview. He cites production delays and loss of director Christian Gossett among the reasons he left. And he’s on the short list for the new Star Trek series. Read more » (Filed 2/23/16)

JUDGE GRANTS CBS and Paramount most of their requests in an emergency motion, including a new deposition of producer Alec Peters after revelation of an undisclosed email trove. The court order also loosened up disclosure of Axanar’s financial data. Read more » (Filed 10/31/16)

REST IN PEACE? A Facebook glitch appeared to announce that both Axanar producer Alec Peters and spokesman Mike Bawden had passed away, posting a memorial notice on their profile pages. Read more » (Filed 11/11/16)

ENDGAME II Producer Lukas Kendall explains why Axanar settlement talks fizzled, and updates his predictions about how the copyright case will eventually resolve. Read more » (Filed 11/5/16)

COURT GRANTS the studios’ request for an order paving the way to use Axanar’s financial information in depositions. Meanwhile, the defense opposed CBS and Paramount’s request for a new deposition of Alec Peters and accused opposing counsel of leaking information to AxaMonitor. Read more » (Filed 10/30/16)

INSIDE DEPOSITION Former Axanar chief technologist Terry McIntosh shines a light on both sides’ issues in Axanar’s copyright infringement lawsuit. Also: Evidence the defense is using a supposed leak of confidential information to AxaMonitor to restrict plaintiffs’ use of Axanar’s financial data. Read more » (Filed 10/30/16)

HUNDREDS OF EMAILS Studio attorneys castigated the defense for refusing a second deposition of Alec Peters after it appeared he withheld subpoenaed documents. And the defense wants to keep Axanar’s finances secret because they reveal ‘embarrassing’ spending of donor funds. Read more » (Filed 10/28/16)

WITHSTANDING SCRUTINY An AxaMonitor analysis examines the strength of Axanar’s case on copyright infringement and potential damages, as championed by its surrogate’s blog — but does its analysis hold up to scrutiny? Read more » (Filed 10/27/16)

DISCOVERY ORDER Just hours after a hearing, a federal magistrate ordered CBS and Paramount to give Axanar’s attorneys documents the studios had so far resisted turning over. But the defense won’t get everything it asked for. Read more » (Filed 10/21/16)

DEFENSE GIVES UP on disputed Star Trek copyrights in supplemental motions filed October 7, 2016, that opened a window behind the scenes of discovery in the Axanar copyright infringement case. Read more » (Filed 10/9/16)

AXANAR SPARRED with CBS and Paramount Pictures about the studios turning over documents relating to Star Trek fan fiction, and 50 years of financial and copyright ownership records, filing a motion to compel discovery to force the studios to pony up. Read more » (Filed 9/30/16)

SHROUDED STUDIO With the formal opening of the for-profit studio Alec Peters built using money supporters donated to produce Axanar, AxaMonitor‘s investigation into the companies behind the studio revealed a complete lack of transparency about who stands to financially benefit from the facility. Read more » (Filed 9/26/16)

PODCAST FACT-CHECK In the 40th episode of the Axanar podcast, producer Alec Peters finally confirms the completion of the production’s financial audit, and that it’s in the hands of CBS. We fact-check Peters’ claims about the lawsuit, mission creep, For the Love of Spock and what he thinks of Star Trek: Discovery. Read more » (Filed 9/28/16)

ARE PERKS any closer to being delivered to increasingly impatient donors? In his “Captain’s Log,” Axanar producer Alec Peters says yes. AxaMonitor fact-checks his claims. Read more » (Filed 9/27/16)

VENUE FOR VICTORY Producer Alec Peters told attendees at a virtual scifi conference that Axanar’s lawyers are already looking toward arguing their case in a court of appeals, and that the lawsuit may result in a very different-looking Axanar. Read more » (Filed 9/26/16)

LAWSUIT PORTRAYAL We examine Axanar producer Alec Peters’ portrait of the lawsuit — stalled settlement talks and betrayal by the studios suing him even after Star Trek producer J.J. Abrams and director Justin Lin proclaimed their support. Read more » (Filed 9/23/16)

COMPANY SPAMS DONORS? In a move that may have run afoul of laws and the terms of use of their online services, Axanar Productions appeared to have lent or sold its donor mailing list to another company to advertise an upcoming auction of props and costumes. Read more » (Filed 9/9/16)

FROM THE ASHES of failed fulfillment software to ship perks to its donors, Axanar informed donors it has launched a new platform it hopes will address its inability to maintain a database enabling the production to deliver the long-delayed items. Read more » (Filed 9/9/16)

SUBPOENA ISSUED Axanar’s former chief technologist, Terry McIntosh, has been served with a subpoena by lawyers for plaintiffs CBS and Paramount Pictures as their copyright infringement lawsuit proceeds against the fan production and its leader, Alec Peters. Read more » (Filed 9/3/16)

CALL TO FIX GUIDELINES A self-selected group of fans calling for a partial boycott of Star Trek: Discovery has submitted a “focus group” report to CBS and Paramount criticizing their fan film guidelines and calling for the studios to walk back restrictions on run times, hiring professionals and crowdfunding. Read more » (Filed 8/26/16)

GRASPING FOR RELEVANCE Jeremy Varner was as surprised as anyone by the upsurge of traffic last week when he posted his speculation Star Trek: Discovery had to be copying something from Axanar, granting relevance to Axanar supporters increasingly marginalized by the new TV series. Read more » (Filed 8/25/16)

J’ACCUSE Even as fan film Star Trek–Horizon pulled ahead of Prelude to Axanar on August 23, Axanar accused Horizon‘s creator of buying YouTube views. Producer Tommy Kraft said the charge “reeks of nothing more than pure jealousy.” Read more » (Updated 8/23/16)

FACT CHECKING Axanar producer Alec Peters’ new captain’s logs, we examine his claims regarding the copyright suit it faces from CBS and Paramount, his doubts about the ownership of Star Trek and whether Axanar was ever truly “just a fan film.” Read more » (Filed 9/22/16)

SUSPICIOUS TWEETS sparked two of AxaMonitor‘s Top 10 stories in August-September 2016, as upstart Star Trek–Horizon rapidly approached Prelude to Axanar‘s viewership. Plus, we finally got a little peek behind the scenes of CBS/Paramount’s copyright lawsuit against Axanar. Also: Our other site stats and Top 10 Tweets. The countdown » (Filed 9/17/16)

BUYING VIEWS Following Axanar’s controversial accusation against Star Trek–Horizon, this AxaMonitor Explainer describes what “buying YouTube views” really means, how it’s done, how much it costs and what’s really at stake. Read more » (Filed 8/22/16)

LITTLE PROGRESS In settlement talks, CBS and Paramount Pictures appear unwilling to cede any kind of business arrangement that would allow Axanar to move forward, executive producer Alec Peters said on August 16 — the first public hint about the state of negotiations in the lawsuit. Read more » (Filed 8/17/16)

MOST SUCCESSFUL FAN FILM Suddenly on August 7, dozens of seemingly unrelated Twitter accounts all spouted the exact same tweet pointing people to Prelude to Axanar‘s page on YouTube. No one’s saying why, but the reason may have to do with an upstart’s threat to Axanar’s claim to be the most successful Star Trek fan film ever. Read more » (Filed 8/8/16)

GAG ORDER? The Star Trek Las Vegas convention supposedly issues a ban on discussing fan films, though it appears the restriction may have been tied to the copyright lawsuit against Axanar. Read more » (Filed 8/7/16)

DONOR MONEY IN ESCROW? A surrogate for Axanar producer Alec Peters disputes reports that the production is out of money, claiming all donor funds are in an escrow account, raising questions about how Axanar is remaining afloat. Read more » (Filed 7/5/16)

WHY IT MATTERS that Tommy Kraft’s fan film, Star Trek–Horizon, is set to overtake Prelude to Axanar on YouTube. Read more »

AFTERMATH Following the release by CBS and Paramount of production guidelines, two dozen stunned and fearful fan producers assess the devastating impact of the new restrictions on their shows. Read more »

WHO’S THREATENED? In a new interview with Australia’s TrekZONE Spotlight, AxaMonitor editor Carlos Pedraza recaps the Axanar news of the past few months with host Matthew Miller. Among the topics: Whether the copyright lawsuit against Axanar threatens any fan production other than Axanar. Watch here » (Filed 8/17/16)