Star Trek Fans Threatened By Lawyers For Writing About Trek History
While we’ve gotten used to hearing Nintendo filing lawsuits for those who infringe upon their copyrights, going as far as to sue YouTubers, who usually promote works of art for free, the latest lawsuit comes from Paramount Pictures over its Star Trek IP. Namely, the oral retelling of the first Borg invasion and battle of Wolf 359, titled We Engaged the Borg—better known as Wolf 359 Project—has been shut down following Paramount Pictures’ filing of the DMCA complaint.
Paramount Pictures has filed a DMCA complaint against the Wolf 359 Project, a fan-made project recounting the first Borg invasion and battle of Wolf 359, the site of one of the most devastating battles in Federation history. Though the details about the actual DMCA complaint remain scarce, those behind the Wolf 359 Project have removed their works from public access. It’s important to note that those behind the project haven’t made, or attempted to make, any profit from their Star Trek fan work.
The creators of the Wolf 359 Project weren’t profiting from their work. Unfortunately, that doesn’t shield them from legal repercussions if their work is interpreted as copyright infringement
Before we dive into the history of the first Borg invasion, we’d like to discuss the DMCA complaint and the removal of a very popular work of Star Trek fan fiction. Fan fiction occupies a very complex space within copyright law.
The whole Star Trek universe, including its characters, settings, and other elements, are protected by copyright laws, which makes fan fiction, without official permission from the owner of the IP, technically a violation of their copyright. If the writer of fan-fiction profits from their fanfic, the infringement becomes clear-cut from a legal perspective.
The battle of Wolf 359 and its ramification are considered pivotal events in the entire Star Trek lore, and it has been referenced in several episodes and several Star Trek series
Now, in the vast majority of cases, owners or right holders of the IP tolerate or even appreciate fan fiction, as it fosters a strong fan community and maintains the interest in the original works alive. Does anyone remember 50 Shades of Gray novels? Though they’re not even remotely connected to Star Trek, the work originated as a Twilight fan-fiction. It only goes to show just how powerful fan fiction can be while also being a fantastic lesson in marketing.
The creators of the Wolf 359 Project weren’t profiting from their work. Unfortunately, that doesn’t shield them from legal repercussions if their work is interpreted as copyright infringement, and it most certainly didn’t stop Paramount from issuing a DMCA takedown notice, prompting the writers of Star Trek fanfic to remove the content and shield themselves from further infringement. Unfortunately, this still doesn’t answer our question as to why did Paramount take such measures?
The Battle of Wolf 359
The Battle of Wolf 359 took place in The Next Generation series, when the Borg, a cybernetic species intent on assimilating other cultures, attacked the Federation and captured and assimilated Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise-D.
In response to the Borg threat, the Federation assembled a fleet of 40 starships at Wolf 359 to intercept and stop Borg advancement, but the battle proved to be a disaster for the Federation, which counted 39 ships, and 11,000 Starfleet personnel lost.
The battle and its ramification are considered pivotal events in the entire Star Trek lore, and it has been referenced in several episodes and several Star Trek series. Perhaps therein lies the problem; maybe Wolf 359 Project warranted enough attention as work that still wasn’t explored by the IP owners.
