Absolutely. We've talked several times about the fact that CBS are not obliged to challenge every infringement of their copyright - the fact they've let other fan films slide doesn't hurt their case. But if they'd published a document saying or implying that it would allow fan films that meet certain criteria, that really does muddy the water. It could then be argued that they had extended a de facto licence to fan films and given that these can potentially be made by anyone, that's very broad. They'd never do that. No set of rules could be stringent enough to safeguard them, but no rules or implied permission at all and always answering with vague comments like "we continue to object to unauthorised use of our property" when questioned keeps them free to allow some sensible fan films and still come down hard on productions which overstep their boundaries.
