Over the past several years, one issue that has been discussed among hobbyists from time to time relates to questions about Stormtrooper helmets characterized as “prototypes” and attributed to the production of the first Star Wars film, A New Hope. A number of hobbyists do not believe these helmets are indeed prototypes (precursors to the helmets made for and used in A New Hope) but made following that production, which would classify them as non-Original or replicas. [Read more…]
There has been relatively sparse reporting since last week on the 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 now from the United States to the UK, is between George Lucas and his Lucasfilm production company and Andrew Ainsworth and his Shepperton Design Studios. I thought I would monitor the news and post short updates as I come across them. [Read more…]
Similar to the news story with the collector filing suit against Christie’s and CBS Paramount late last year (see “Star Trek Collector Sues Christies, CBS & Paramount Studios for $7 Million Dollars“), the story of the legal battle between George Lucas and his Lucasfilm production company and Andrew Ainsworth and his Shepperton Design Studios seems to have captured the interest of the mainstream media, only in this case, the story is much more international. This legal dispute is over the trademark and copyright of the Stormtrooper helmet and other helmets and armor produced for Star Wars: A New Hope. This story has broken very wide, in the last day especially, with well over 150 related stories showing up in Google searches yesterday into today. [Read more…]
The Guardian reports that the Lucasfilm lawsuit against Andrew Ainsworth over the Stormtrooper armor trademark and copyright dispute moves to UK courts tomorrow. [Read more…]
As reported in late January (see “Original Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz on The Oprah Winfrey Show“, “Original Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz on The Oprah Winfrey Show – The Video“), the 1/23/08 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show focused on “Classic Americana”. Part of the episode featured Dr. Brent Glass, Director of The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. The ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz were sent to the show from Washington, D.C., under the supervision of two armed guards and via first class air travel in a disguised box. There was some controversy across the Internet as a result of Oprah’s handling of the artifacts.
I posted a video clip from this segment on YouTube, and noticed that the clip has since been removed, with the following explanation: [Read more…]