Understanding the evolution of the Star Trek franchise requires equal parts historian, lawyer, and conspiracy theorist. The clearest picture emerges thanks to Midnight Edge. The TL;DR is that all Star Trek after 2005 has been produced under the Paramount “alternate” license. That license requires any product to be at least 25% different than cannon under the original license (which includes all Star Trek between 1966 and 2005 including TOS, TAS, TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT, and the first ten movies). Even new Star Trek projects from CBS, the holder of the original “cannon” license, have or will be produced under the alternate license Because Lawyers. Sort of.
One thing Midnight Edge did not consider is Star Trek Online (STO). Launched in 2010 by Cryptic Studios, the project actually began under a different studio, Perpetual, in 2004 [ The Game Archaeologist: Perpetual’s Star Trek Online ]. The MMO clearly operated under the original license, including assets from the entire cannon timeline and even having former Trek actors guest-star as their original characters in voiceovers. The game has also added material from the JJ-trek movies and Discovery, so it’s a single property under both licenses which must keep Cryptic’s lawyers quite busy or at least well caffeinated. Having no plans to produce under the original license might also explain why CBS may have allowed Cryptic to continue doing its own thing while JJ and CBS All Access did their own things under the alternate license.
Watch the full video from Midnight Edge for all the twists, turns, and sleuthing since Gene first pitched Wagon Train To the Stars, or check out Egotastic Funtime’s summary for a less legalese, more (anti)fan-friendly assessment.
The Undiscovered Country
If Midnight Edge is right, it’s about to get even more interesting: CBS and Paramount may be merged back into one entity, and that might mean that the two Star Trek licenses will become one as well. What that might mean for the franchise is anybody’s guess. If we’re lucky, the franchise will revisit the cannon timeline and it will do so without a paywall.
I also hope it won’t chill Cryptic’s creative freedom. On the surface, Cryptic appears to have had a good relationship with CBS and Paramount. But Cryptic recently side-lined a planned follow-up to the ambitious DS9-themed expansion “Victory Is Life” for a rushed Short Trek of its own, “Age of Discovery”, timed to drop just before Discovery’s second season premiere. Maybe there was a cross-promotional deal Cryptic couldn’t pass up. Maybe that was the dying gasp of old CBS trying to claw back the license since deciding to make its own content again.
Will a new Viacom post-unification see all of Star Trek as its prestigious heirloom, its golden goose? If so, they may take back more creative control. In my happy fantasy wonderland where New Viacom buys the best fan-based projects and produces them for television, our next season in STO would be “Return to Axanar”.