Stormtrooper helmet sales still legal in Britain A British movie prop maker who crafted the Stormtrooper uniform for the original Star Wars movie can continue selling replicas of the costume throughout the galaxy — the US excepted. George Lucas's production company Lucasfilm sued Andrew Ainsworth over copyright violations for selling Stormtrooper suits and helmets through …
George, are you that hard up for cash (we know you're not) that you couldn't just grandfather in a generous licensing scheme (and maybe have him include some pamphlets for YOUR stuff in the box) for this guy?
I mean, since he was sort of instrumental in the creation of one of the most iconic elements of the entire Star Wars universe... seems like you could dig deep and find a soft spot for his him.
A few dollars (or pounds, euros, whatever) per suit, what do you say?
"We do not intend to use this ruling to discourage our fans from expressing their imagination, creativity and passion for Star Wars through the costumes and props they make for their personal use,"
Explains why the welsh and Aussies like sheep so much, the subliminals in star wars has them wanting to make their own long haired sidekicks....
My coat's the sheepskin one.
That is the problems with the real life EVIL EMPIRE. Copyright should not last forever. copyright should only be a couple of years (5 or less). Only individual should be able to own a (c). A great movie (such as star wars) is not a licence to make money for doing nothing more then abusing the justice system with lawsuit.
Mickey, The Wizard of OZ, Star Trek, star Wars, Back to the Future. All of those long pass they prime and should/need to be put into the public domain.
A vry short (c) will encourage The great American Sewer System(TM) (Hollywood) to be more creative instead of spewing the same thing over and over again.
Lucasfilm have won their side of the battle on their turf, we won the battle on ours.
I think it was a fair and just decision made. In a British courtroom! Who would have thought it!
Now if only they could get more judges like this involved in violence, murder and rape cases! We may have a country worth living in! :D
George Lucas, and Lucasfilm, have a pretty decent reputation for dealing with fan activity. Not like some high-profile US movie companies.
So there's something which makes this case exceptional. And it's the sort of high-quality product which could have been licensed as "official".
Though a $20 million judgement in the USA looks more than a bit silly.
Doesn't the judge realise the man broke US law whilst in the 51st state? Furthermore it's fraud, and they include goods which are likely to be useful to terrists.
Brown should extraordinary rendition the fraudster *and* the judge and set an example to the so-called judiciary that they are not above the law!
Something has just gone out of copyright, there is a ripple in the force, the world has changed subtly, but nevertheless it will never be the same again.
I'm sorry this is a non story, Lucas has milked that one forever if he had his way, his great great grandchildren would be milking royalties from companies making helmets shaped like that for another 1000 years and we'd be a society of lawyers who go to the office to do our lawsuits, come home to read our mail and see how many new lawsuits we have. Then we'd pop down to the supermarket to issue a subpoena or two, then watch 'Lawsuit Extreme' and 'When Cops Get Sued' on TV, finally to go to bed to dream of the day we hit big with one of our lawsuits.
I've seen McCreevy's future and it's not trade and commerce, it's lawyers filing nuisance lawsuits.
/rant
Also did anyone care when Cliff Richards recording of "Schoolboy Crush" went out of copyright? If I didn't mention it here would you care?
We should be able to buy our very own X and Y wing fighters soon then.
Shame that we have a few years to wait before we can legally buy a podracer though. Just the ticket for getting through London traffic.......hmmm......are podracers subject to the congestion charge?
Mines the one with the huge frikkin' laser cannon on the wings.
Copyright and trademark law requires that you actively protect your intellectual property or you will lose like Budwar did in court over the infringement by Budweiser.
Likewise it is not optional, Lucasfilm is obligated to protect their intellectual and physical assets.
It's a small point, but it might make them seem less like ogres to some of you.
"But some would argue that's a small price to pay to transform any wannabe swoop jockey into an elite shock trooper of the Galactic Empire..."
The replicas being sold are of the uniforms used in the first three flicks, in which the stormtroopers couldn't hit a barn door at point blank range.... not exactly my defintion of an elite shock troop.
> Lucasfilm argued that Lucas had already worked out the look of the Stormtrooper
> before asking Ainsworth to cast the helmet.
Yeah. When it was Taxol related data it all became property of those who did not obtained it first, and now we see some designer converted "worked out" wishes to real thing, and result is not his at all.
Question is, whether this sharp turn was due to drastic change of course or merely as a part of ongoing zigzag maneuver ? Jolly Roger knows...
"George Lucas, and Lucasfilm, have a pretty decent reputation for dealing with fan activity."
Did they relent on the guy who made the leet gamer spoof of the episode three trailer? That was stupendously funny and a tribute to the movie, I thought. Yet it was crushed and devoured by Lucas' lawyers in very short order.
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