Los Angeles-based Partner Erin Ranahan’s representation of the producers of a fan film prequel to Star Trek in a copyright infringement lawsuit was profiled in the Law360 article “‘Star Trek’ Fans Tap Winston Copyright Whiz to Fight Suit” published on January 27.
According to the article, Paramount Pictures and CBS filed the lawsuit against Ms. Ranahan’s pro bono client Axanar Productions Inc. over “Axanar”—a feature-length, professional-quality Star Trek fan fiction film funded by $1.1 million in fan donations on crowdfunding sites. While writer Alec Peters believed he had a green light from CBS to make the film, the lawsuit alleges “Axanar” improperly used “innumerable copyrighted elements” and “unabashedly” infringed the company’s intellectual property.
“It’s an interesting area of law, and it’s obviously a high-profile case,” Ms. Ranahan said about her decision to take the case pro bono. “And the cost of these cases can put these people out of business.”
The article discusses a few of Ms. Ranahan’s past copyright cases, such as her representation of video-sharing site Veoh Networks Inc., which was significant in setting the boundaries for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s safe harbors, her defense of mobile ringtone provider Myxer against copyright claims by major record labels, and also her copyright defense of Wolfgang’s Vault, an online marketplace for live concert recordings.
With her extensive background defending Internet companies against copyright infringement claims, Ms. Ranahan sees similar challenges in the Star Trek case.
“This type of fan fiction represents another gray area under the law,” she said. “Our clients are good actors who were trying to follow all the rules and navigate the legal waters.”
Ms. Ranahan notes that her defense may incorporate the fair use doctrine based on her growing understanding of the case.
“Their use of the [copyrighted] material is really minimal, and the film involves so much of their own creativity,” she said,” “But fair use is always going to be an adventure.”
The article suggests that there is hope the case will be settled “in a fair and amicable manner” given the “Axanar” team’s longstanding, enthusiastic support of the franchise.
“This suit is designed to stop the movie, but there is room for us to reach some kind of amicable settlement,” she said. “These aren’t parties that should be antagonistic with each other.”
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