CBS smashes fans' virtual, noncommercial recreation of the USS Enterprise

For two years, a group of die-hard Star Trek fans labored to create Stage 9, a totally noncommercial virtual replica of the USS Enterprise built with Unreal Engine; they assumed that when CBS Vice President for Product Development John Van Citters was serious in 2016, when he publicly acknowledged the debt that Star Trek owes to its fans and assured people creating fan media that "Theyre not going to hear from us. Theyre not going to get a phone call, theyre not going to get an email. Theyre not going to get anything thats going to ruin their day one way or another and make them feel bad, like theyve done something wrong."

But then the fans got a cease and desist from CBS, ordering them to shut down Stage 9.

They tried to talk to the lawyer who sent the letter (that person left for vacation right after sending it); they tried to talk to Van Citters. No one would return their calls. Finally, they got in touch with the lawyer who sent the letter, offering to make any changes that would put CBS at ease. The lawyer told them they had to take their project down -- or else.

CBS and Paramount publish fan art guidelines that Stage 9 seems to have adhered to. When CBS/Paramount sued the team behind the crowdfunded Star Trek fan-film Axanar (previously) the company pointed to these guidelines as evidence of their good faith.

Star Trek was famously saved from cancellation by fans who had kept the story alive through unauthorized fiction and art, and who rallied to keep the show on the air. Read the rest