George Lucas Sued Over Stormtrooper Costume Copyright

The Times:

By Saturday evening the humdrum office of a firm of City solicitors could have been mistaken for a distant outpost of the Galactic Empire.

Between the desks were the white suits and helmets that are known to Star Wars aficionados the world over as the uniform of the Imperial Stormtrooper.

The lawyers working late that night were preparing to do battle with the opposing legal armies of George Lucas, the creator of the Star Wars films, over who owns the copyright on the stormtrooper uniforms, the headgear of the imperial fighter pilots and the helmet designed for Luke Skywalker as he led the final assault on the Death Star in the first film of the original trilogy.

Lucas's business empire claims that it owns all the rights to the uniforms, while the lawyers at SimmonsCooperAndrew will argue that the rights are in fact vested in an obscure prop designer from Twickenham who made the first helmets and suits for the 1977 film.

Tomorrow morning the opposing sides as well as the assorted stormtrooper suits and helmets will arrive in the Chancery Division of the High Court.

The case, reported today in The Lawyer magazine, could have widereaching implications for the multibillion-pound business of film merchandising.

Read the whole story: The Times

Comments

[situationcritical]

11:00 PM on 04/07/2008

Maybe Lucas could check in every so often with the people who were key in helping him bring his vision to the screen - just to see if they're okay, and eating well.

That'd be nice.

[TurgidCaterwauling]

08:23 PM on 04/07/2008

After the first two Star Wars films, George was played out. Sequels and offshoots have a Rocky 50 feel to them. When have you found yourself looking forward to his next project?

[mckinley]

04:38 PM on 04/07/2008

If you read the whole story, you will see that what really happened was that a couple years ago the designer decided to start reproducing the costumes on his own, to sell to fans and collectors for his personal profit.

This is not a case of Darth Lucas trampling on a righteous rebellion.

[TheCowman]

03:51 PM on 04/07/2008

31 years later and this guy decides to sue??

[sssteverrr]

01:25 PM on 04/07/2008

What a shame for a man with so much power,riches and fame. Star Wars: is that all there is.