See also: Explainer: Motions for Summary Judgment and Axanar Defense Also Asks Judge for Summary Judgment

In a massive filing in U.S. District Court on November 16, 2016, plaintiffs CBS and Paramount Pictures produced evidence of a shocking amount of personal spending by defendant Alec Peters from money fans had contributed to produce Axanar, who then altered financial documents to hide spending from donors.

The studios asked a federal judge to grant a partial summary judgment in the Star Trek copyright infringement lawsuit against Axanar.

The motion asked for a hearing before U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner on December 19 to hear arguments supporting the motion, as well as granting the plaintiffs’ request for an injunction against Axanar, including ending any kind of distribution to Peters’ Axanar works, including the already released Prelude to Axanar.¹⁾

Earlier in the day, Axanar surrogate Jonathan Lane posted on his blog that the defense would also be filing its own motion, but the studios’ documents — including evidence such as depositions from Peters, Axanar director Robert Meyer Burnett and other staff — were posted online first by the court.

The plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment asks Klauser to find the following facts to be undisputed:

• That CBS and Paramount own Star Treks’ copyrights; and
• Peters and his company, Axanar Productions Inc., infringed on those copyrights by “creating works that are substantially similar [to] and that copy protected elements of Plaintiffs’ works, including specific characters, settings, themes, mood, tone, plots and dialogue.”²⁾

The studios also sought a ruling from the judge that Peters is liable — personally, as well as in his role as sole shareholder in Axanar Productions — for contributory and vicarious infringement because he:

• Knew about the direct copyright infringement.
• Materially contributed to the infringement.
• Oversaw and controlled the infringing conduct.
• Financially benefited from the infringing acts.

The plaintiffs’ motion also asserted that Axanar’s planned fair use defense would fail under the four-factor analysis courts apply in copyright cases.

Significant portions of the plaintiffs’ motion were redacted because they directly referred to documents or other evidence Axanar’s attorneys had marked Confidential, a designation the plaintiffs may contest in court.

The redacted portions referred to exhibits being submitted to support the plaintiffs’ motion. Among the revelations:

• Between his first and second depositions Peters appeared to have altered Axanar’s financial documents to remove personal expenses he paid for with donor funds, including “tens of thousands of dollars of restaurant bills,” gasoline, car and health insurance, auto maintenance and phone bills for himself, his girlfriend and another friend.³⁾
• Peters raised almost $1.5 million from Star Trek fans, much of which he used to pay himself, his friends and colleagues and that he also used the funds to lease and build out a commercial studio he hoped to use to produce other Star Trek projects and rent out to other commercial productions.
• Peters testified his intention in creating Axanar Works was to be “ridiculously accurate” to Star Trek and to “make sure every little detail adheres to canon.”⁴⁾

Along with the actual motion, the studios’ attorneys included a document, “Uncontroverted Facts and Conclusions of Law,” required by the court to support the plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment.

Along with their motion, CBS and Paramount offered evidence they want the judge to consider in deciding whether to grant their motion.

Summary judgment allows a judge to rule on the legal merits of a case if the material facts are undisputed in an effort to avoid the time and expense of the jury trial otherwise requested by all parties in the lawsuit. That trial is slated to begin January 31, 2017.

See also: Our Explainer on Summary Judgment

The plaintiffs asked the court to accept some evidence under seal, meaning all or parts would be entered into the record but redacted by the defense, attorneys Winston & Strawn, claiming the information should be protected from public disclosure.

Here is a partial list of the evidence submitted to the court and marked Confidential by the defense despite many of the items being publicly available:

Depositions

Depositions taken from:

• Axanar producer Alec Peters
• Axanar director Robert Meyer Burnett
• Axanar’s fulfillment director, Diana Kingsbury, who oversees delivery of perks to donors who gave Peters money to produce the feature film.
• CBS vice-president John Van Citters
• Dan O’Rourke, vice-president of rights and research at Paramount Pictures

Documents

Financial Summary

Plaintiffs submitted Axanar’s financial summary, identified by the defense as Confidential. In another recent filing, the studios’ attorneys claimed the defense so designated the document to avoid embarrassing Peters rather than out of a legitimate need to avoid public disclosure of trade secrets or proprietary information.

The Annual Report that Peters compiled and publicly distributed raised many questions about how the money raised from Kickstarter backers and Indiegogo contributors was spent.

YouTube Views

A document stating that the short film, Prelude to Axanar, was viewed 2. 5 million times on YouTube, which the defense for some reason designated Confidential.

'Prelude to Axanar' Brochure

The defense also marked Confidential a brochure for a screening of Prelude that depicts images from the short film that helped Peters raise more than $700,000 on Kickstarter, and more than $500,000 on Indiegogo, the crowdfunding platforms

Lease

Though marked in the court documents simply as “lease,” this document presumably is the lease between Axanar Productions and the owner of the warehouse in which Peters used donor money to build a commercial soundstage.

Emails

Peters and 'Prelude' Director

A November 25, 2012, email exchange between Alec Peters and Prelude director Christian Gossett, also marked Confidential by the defense.

Peters and Star Trek Alumnus Doug Drexler

A February 11, 2013, email from Alec Peters to Doug Drexler, also marked Confidential by the defense. The Emmy-winning Drexler has worked on Star Trek professionally and has been been a longtime supporter of the fan film community.

Blueprints

• Blueprints for the soundstage at Paramount Studios that was used for Star Trek, also designated by the defense as Confidential.
• Blueprints from the set of Star Trek: The Next Generation, also marked Confidential by the defense.

Screenplay

Version 7.7 of the Axanar script, dated November 26, 2015, (designated Confidential). That version is newer than the August 2015 version Peters once called “locked,” and which was obtained and reviewed by AxaMonitor)

Marketing and Communication Materials

• Press kit, which the defense labeled Confidential, despite being available on Axanar’s e-presscenter website.
• Marketing plan for Axanar, which the defense also designated Confidential.

Keywords