It was fully funded through kickstarter back at the end of august.
Studio flooring went in in march so I guess it will be quite awhile still.
Actually, Prelude To Axanar was fully funded in August (they raised $80,000)... not the full length film.
Here is the donor page for the full length feature:
http://www.startrekaxanar.com/donate/Even still it is a shot in the dark. If Paramount passes on giving them a deal I'm not sure if they can legally release it.
That's why the are only calling it Axanar now (no Star Trek prefix, although the Website still has the prefix). They are in that weird zone where all of the fan-produced spinoffs are, and apparently are toe-ing the line appropriately. That could always change though. They can't charge for the release itself, but baubles (Axanar shirts, mugs, etc) are another story, as long as it doesn't say Star Trek on them... Prelude to Axanar was released under these conditions, and cost $80,000 in donations to make. They can't sell the Movie/Prequel in any shape or form, but it's available for download (for free) in a few places.
Said baubles are tied to the donation levels, similar to what happens on PBS with donations. AFAIK they aren't selling them directly.
And trust me, with the star power and buzz that Axanar has been working with, I'm SURE Paramount is well aware of their existence. Doesn't mean that Paramount won't change their tune at some point, but I'd be interested if they got 'written permission assuming not-for profit/free'' as insurance.
Star Trek New Voyages, Phase II, etc. are in stickier territory, as they are using the main roles (Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, etc.). Nonetheless, they've been releasing episodes for years now. I'm guessing that Paramount feels that this keeps the 'fan base' together for the next time Paramount does an official release, but of course that can change. Other fan film franchises have suffered at the whim of various studios. As an example, at one point, there was a cool new fan made live action Robotech movie with a couple of segments released, but the second Harmony Gold found out about it, cease and desist...
ST:OGAM (Star Trek: Of Gods And Men) was another released 'film' which had Nichelle Nichols and Walter Koenig in it. Check it out if you can find it, if you haven't seen it yet! I'm guessing that Renegades (the planned spinoff from STOGAM) fell by the wayside, though.