After a months-long legal battle that drew in everyone from the Klingons to the Abrams, the Star Trek lawsuit will be decided by a jury, Deadline reports. CBS and Paramount filed the copyright infringement case against the makers of Axanar, a fan-produced film that’s looking (and costing) a bit too much like the real thing to remain in simple homage territory. Defendant Alec Peters’ evasive legal maneuvers have involved asking CBS and Paramount to distill the essence of Star Trek, and now he’s arguing that infringement cannot be determined until the film is finished. He’s asking everyone to reserve judgment, if you will.
But U.S. District Court Judge R. Gary Klausner disagrees, and has found an “objective substantial similarity to the Star Trek copyrighted works,” so he’s sending the matter to the jury to determine the “subjective substantial similarity.” But the judge’s ruling—which naturally included references to “going where no one has gone before” and “living long and prospering”—did not grant the plaintiffs’ declaratory and injunctive relief, which would have halted production on Axanar.