It was fun while it lasted, but now it’s time to get into the legal drama that could bury producer Adi Shankar’s viral Power Rangers bootleg film. The 14-minute film, starring James Van Der Beek and Katee Sackhoff in a dark, dystopian version of the beloved series, has been pulled from Vimeo and Saban Entertainment is not happy about the film.
As previously reported, the video showed up over the weekend and quickly took over the web. Not only did it feature two recognizable Hollywood stars, but it was also directed by Joseph Kahn, who made Torque and Detention. It featured some incredible graphics and strong language.
But all that fun might be over rather quickly. The NSFW version was pulled from Vimeo, although a slightly toned down version is still on YouTube. It has racked up 11.4 million views.
While Saban hasn’t gone after YouTube yet, the company that owns Power Rangers already went after Vimeo. According to CinemaBlend, Saban already filed a copyright infringement complaint to get the video off Vimeo.
Shankar, who financed the film himself and has produced features like The Grey and Lone Survivor, told fans on Twitter to email Saban and complain to Vimeo. Khan has also gone to Twitter to insist that it is a fan film and is not making any money from it at all. Kahn also received emails from Vimeo, explaining why they had to take it down.
Fan films usually fall under fair use protections, just like a parody.
It’s also possible that Saban moved quickly to get the film pulled because it is currently working with Lionsgate to make a new Power Rangers film.
It should also be noted that Shankar has produced similar dark, moody fan films before and hasn’t gotten in trouble yet. For example, he made The Punisher: Dirty Laundry in 2012 and that is still available online.
image courtesy of INFphoto.com