Questions About Copyright On Stormtrooper Costume Hit UK Supreme Court

from the i-find-your-lack-of-copyright-disturbing dept

Over the past few years, we've covered the ongoing legal battle between Andrew Ainsworth -- the prop designer who created the original Stormtrooper costumes for Star Wars -- and George Lucas. Ainsworth had been selling Stormtrooper costumes, and Lucas claimed it was a copyright violation. In 2008, a UK court tossed out a ruling against Ainsworth, pointing out that movie props are utilitarian, rather than works of art, and thus not covered by copyright in the UK. Of course, Ainsworth is being a bit silly too. At one point he countersued Lucas, saying that Lucas owed him money for all the merchandising he had done involving the Stormtrooper outfits.

Either way, the case is finally going to the UK Supreme Court. Apparently, Lucas is claiming that there was an implied term in the agreement between Lucas and Ainsworth that Ainsworth wouldn't be able to have any rights to sell the works he created. So the question really may come down to whether or not the court really believes in such "implied" terms, or whether it prefers contractual terms to actually be explicit before people can agree to them.

Filed Under: andrew ainsworth, copyright, costumes, george lucas, storm troopers, uk

Storm Trooper Copyright Lawsuit Back On In the UK

from the in-a-galaxy-far,-far-away dept

Last year we wrote about a copyright fight between George Lucas/Lucasfilm and Andrew Ainsworth, the guy who created the original costumes for the storm troopers in Star Wars. Ainsworth believes that he has every right to now sell storm trooper costumes. Lucas, and his licensing empire, feel otherwise. It got to the ridiculous level of Ainsworth claiming that Lucas actually owed him money, for all the free merchandising Ainsworth has done for the various Star Wars movies by selling his costumes. Eventually, the High Court in the UK tossed out Lucas' claims, saying that the costumes were not works of art and not covered by copyright in the UK. It did note that there may have been copyright infringement in the US, but said that Ainsworth was immune from a US court ruling on the subject since his US sales were not that big.

Apparently, Lucasfilm isn't happy about this and is appealing the ruling, claiming that the storm trooper costumes are indeed works of art, like sculptures. The whole thing, frankly, seems like a waste of time. Is it really that big of a concern to Lucasfilm if the guy who created the original costumes is selling them himself?

Filed Under: andrew ainsworth, copyright, george lucas, storm troopers, uk
Companies: lucasfilm

Who's The Evil Empire In The Battle Over Who Owns The Rights To Storm Trooper Costumes?

from the is-this-really-worth-a-legal-fight? dept

And the latest in a never-ending line of ridiculous intellectual property lawsuits, apparently George Lucas is engaged in a battle over who owns the rights to the costume used by storm troopers in the Star Wars movies. It turns out that a guy named Andrew Ainsworth created the original costumes for Star Wars and feels that he therefore has the right to make, market and sell the costumes (which people apparently are buying). Lucas, on the other hand, insists that it's a part of Star Wars and is his intellectual property. To make this more fun, Ainsworth turned around and countersued, claiming not only that he owns the rights to the storm trooper outfit, but that Lucas owes him money for all the merchandising done over the years that involved storm trooper costumes. Frankly, both sides are being a bit ridiculous here, but that's what you get in a world where everyone is convinced that you can "own" something such as a movie costume.

Filed Under: george lucas, star wars, storm troopers