Fan-made 'Star Trek' sets become tourist attraction in NY

Sets mimicking those of the 1960s TV series "Star Trek" — including Capt. Kirk's bridge, sick bay and engine room — were built by fans for an internet film series produced in this Adirondacks mountain town and are now open to paying customers who just can't get enough of the 50-year-old franchise.

James Cawley, a 50-year-old Elvis impersonator, began the years-long process of building the sets in 1997 after inheriting a copy of the original Enterprise blueprints from a costume designer on the original show.

Cast members call what they do "playing Star Trek," but the production values became quite high, with some episodes involving up to 200 people and attracting original "Star Trek" actors George Takei and Walter Koenig (reprising their roles of Sulu and Chekov, respectively.)

[...] the atmosphere in their little universe chilled in December after Paramount Pictures and CBS Studios filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the makers in California of a planned fan film that raised more than $1 million on crowdsourcing web sites.

Six months later, the companies — calling themselves "big believers in reasonable fan fiction" — released guidelines on how fan filmmakers can avoid objections, such as not raising more than $50,000 and keeping individual episodes to under 15 minutes.