Why You Can't Record Spy Footage of William Shatner for Your Star Trek Fan Film

Even if Mr. William Shatner agrees to perform some sort of clip for you, sad to say.... You can't use the footage in a Star Trek fan film! It's sad, but true.

But Why, Spock? Why Is It Illogical From a Trademark Standpoint to Use the "Real" Actors?

You'd think Paramount would want any fan films to be as authentic as possible. That's just not the case. You have to use official merchandise and authentic uniforms, but under no circumstances can even the actor who played Klingon #1 in an episode of "Star Trek: the Next Generation" can appear in your fan film, and here's the reason why:

Your fan film has to truly be a "fan film." A fan production. Anything more than that, and you're toying with the legal fires of a photon torpedo. It's pretty clear. The actual statement from Paramount says this much:

"The fan production must be a real "fan" production, i.e., creators, actors and all other participants must be amateurs, cannot be compensated for their services, and cannot be currently or previously employed on ANY STAR TREK SERIES, FILMS, PRODUCTION OF DVDs OR WITH ANY OF CBS OR PARAMOUNT PICTURES' LICENSEES."

Pretty harsh, we know. But it makes sense:

After All, This Is About Your Love for the STORY Behind the Star Trek

And not the actual brand. The copyright and trademark owners here love you and what you're doing. They just want to make sure that it's all you and no one else (associated with them, that is).

And, yes, you heard correctly: you can't even pay your actors (or yourself) for doing this. Your fan film must, simply put, be a labor of love.

Try to see if you can spot any real actors from anything related to the protected properties of the brand of Star Trek here: