News reports are flooding in with regard to the Lucasfilm legal dispute over the trademark and copyright of the Stormtrooper helmet and other helmets and armor produced for Star Wars: A New Hope. This legal battle, transplanted from the United States to the UK, is between George Lucas and his Lucasfilm production company and Andrew Ainsworth and his Shepperton Design Studios. The High Court judge handed down his ruling today, and the outcome, or “victory”, is dependent upon who you ask or what news story you might be reading. One headline reads “Lucas Wins Stormtrooper Case” while another proclaims “Judge’s force is with stormtroooper helmet designer“, which would lead one to believe The Guardian probably has it correct: “George Lucas reaches stalemate in legal battle over Star Wars stormtroopers“.
Background of the dispute can be found in these prior OPB articles:
Lucasfilm Statement
Below is the official Lucasfilm press release, courtesy MarketWatch (LINK):
Lucasfilm Ltd. Wins Copyright Infringement Case in British High Court
Maker of Bootleg Star Wars Stormtrooper Costumes Found Liable for DamagesLast update: 10:20 a.m. EDT July 31, 2008
LONDON, Jul 31, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — A High Court judge here today found that British firm Shepperton Design Studios and its principal, Andrew Ainsworth, violated the U.S. copyrights of Lucasfilm Ltd. by making and selling pirated Star Wars Stormtrooper helmets and other costume replicas.Today’s ruling by Mr Justice Mann in the High Court of Justice, Chancery Division, affirmed that Lucasfilm is the sole owner of all rights to the iconic costume designs.
The court held that Ainsworth infringed Lucasfilm’s rights when he reproduced the Stormtrooper helmet replicas and sold them under a false claim that he had created the designs, which were used in 1977’s Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. Ainsworth was a plastics manufacturer who was hired in 1976 to reproduce designs created by a team of Lucasfilm artists, including costume designer John Mollo, who won an Academy Award for his work on the film.
The court found that the factual claims made by Ainsworth and his company were neither accurate nor reliable, and rejected his counterclaims seeking a share of the profits from the films.
Lucasfilm brought the case to the British High Court following a 2006 judgment by a California court awarding Lucasfilm $20 million in damages resulting from Ainsworth’s activities. The British court held that it could apply U.S. law to the matter and ruled in Lucasfilm’s favor on the merits of the infringement case.
The court also held that Ainsworth infringed Lucasfilm’s rights under UK copyright laws, but that a UK-specific law that limits the enforcement of copyrights in industrial designs applied to the facts in the case. Lucasfilm is considering whether to appeal the legal finding under the UK industrial design law.
“We are grateful to the court for its ruling, which makes it clear that Lucasfilm and George Lucas are the rightful owners of the copyrights related to Star Wars,” said Lucasfilm Vice President Howard Roffman.
“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,” Roffman said. “Rather, we see the Court’s decision as reaffirming that those who seek to illegally profit from Star Wars will be brought to task, wherever they may be.”
Proceedings in the High Court of Justice began on April 8. The trial included testimony from Mollo; Gary Kurtz, producer of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope and Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back; and Roffman, among others. Lucasfilm presented as evidence scores of sketches, designs, drawings and plans from the production of the first Star Wars film, which was produced in England in 1976. Original Imperial Stormtrooper costumes were displayed for the court as evidence. The trial now moves into the remedies phase, in which the court will determine the appropriate relief to provide to Lucasfilm.
Lucasfilm Ltd. is a privately held, fully integrated entertainment company based in San Francisco, Calif.
Lucasfilm Ltd., the Lucasfilm logo, Star Wars and related properties are trademarks and/or copyrights, in the United States and other countries, of Lucasfilm Ltd. and/or its affiliates. TM & (C) Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved. All other trademarks and trade names are properties of their respective owners.
SOURCE: Lucasfilm Ltd.
Mainstream Media Coverage
I found an interesting article at TheLawer.com which contrasts the Lucasfilm release. This feature – Star Wars: attack on the clones struck down – opens as follows:
Litigation boutique SimmonsCooperAndrew has struck down film-maker George Lucas’ galactic High Court battle for ownership of the IP rights to the stormtrooper helmets from the Star Wars films.
Mr Justice Mann ruled that the English copyright for the helmets had expired, which means the movie mogul and LucasFilm does not have exclusive rights to replicate the helmets.
The article goes on to report that the judge did not enforce the U.S. judgment and that while Ainsworth could not sell the replica Stormtrooper helmets to U.S. customers, he could continue to sell them in the UK.
While the ruling that the copyright had expired gives Ainsworth the license to sell these replicas in the UK, it also negated his counterclaim for revenues generated by Lucasfilm.
More, the Court concluded that Ainsworth was not the creator of the Stormtrooper costumes – a claim Ainsworth has maintained in his marketing of his replicas, as the “Original Maker”.
TheLawyer.com reports that the Lucasfilm legal team, Harbottle & Lewis, are contemplating an appeal of the copyright findings, while SimmonsCooperAndrew, representing Andrew Ainsworth, are considering an appeal of their own.
Mark Owen of Harbottle says, “The English Court can and did find that he was infringing our client’s US copyrights,” and “Lucasfilm is pleased to have proved that despite the Defendants’ arguments to the contrary it does have strong and enforceable IP rights in these iconic works.”
A report from Bloomberg News (see Judge’s force is with stormtroooper helmet designer) includes a statement from Seamus Andrew stating, “Lucasfilm’s suit against Mr. Ainsworth was simply unsustainable as a matter of English IP law. It is not possible to tie up the creative efforts of a craftsman in the film industry indefinitely, no matter how much the film companies would like to achieve this.”
More Analysis, More Reaction
I will continue to review coverage of these events and produce supplemental articles, as this is obviously a very interesting series of developments with far reaching consequences outside of the principals directly involved in this case.
Jason De Bord