5 Things You Need to Keep in Mind When Thinking About Selling Copies of Your Star Trek Fan Film

We get it: the temptation is there. When you've made something that glorious, something Starfleet would be proud of, you automatically want to do more than just upload the darn thing on YouTube. Or even set up Google Adsense ads  to make a little bit of revenue.

But You Can't. And Here's Why:

• According to the statement written by CBS and Paramount, limited fundraising is fine as long as the amount doesn't exceed $50K. You can't make or raise money beyond that.
• They've explicitly stated that the Star Trek fan film has to be shown and distributed basically for free, or shared on social media without any kind of ad revenue whatsoever. Sorry.
• You can't even distribute the film on DVD or Blu-Ray.
• You're not even allowed to sell -- or even give away -- any production-related merchandise or services as part of a reward or 'perk' during your fundraising campaigns for the production.
• And, sadly, you can't sell or license any of your costumes, props or production sets. They stay yours. And solely yours.

Hey, Don't Complain: It's Better Than Having Your Star Trek Fan Film Get Blasted by a Phaser Set to Kill

These days, when it comes to the law, that cease-and-desist letter really seems like a phaser set only on stun. It won't kill you. But it'll certainly stop you from what you're doing.

One thing's for sure: this fan film video on YouTube, according to CBS and Paramount trademark rules, would face some serious phaser heat (especially when doing a weird unholy alliance of musical scores involving a certain "Battlestar Galactica" show):