LEGAL FILE

Boldly Going to Court: Producer Eric Jensen and his alter ego, James T. Smirk, have a fight on their hands. And it’s not with the Klingons or Romulans. Paramount Pictures, the owner of “Star Trek” and all its various permutations, has sued Jensen and playwright Rod Bedore for copyright and trademark infringements over their tongue-in-cheek “Star Twek” productions that run at their 200-seat Off Broadway Theater in Salt Lake City. The most recent of the take-offs is “Star Twek: The Voyager Home,” which follows the “Star Twek” characters as they face “corporate downsizing” after peace breaks out across the galaxy. Bedore, who plays Mr. Schlock, says “Star Trek” is ripe for parody--protected parody provided it can’t be confused with the real item. The Paramount suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City on Feb. 16, does not mention specific elements of “Star Twek” it alleges infringe on its copyrights, but alleges Bedore “freely copies the plots, characterizations, character identities, set designs, costumes, music, sound effects and advertising and promotional materials owned by Paramount.”