Star Wars Addiction

April 13, 2008

Darth George

In 2006, George Lucas sued Shepperton Design Studios for copyright infringement concerning the production of Storm Trooper armor. Star Wars fanboys of the highest order may know the name as that is the very studio that designed and manufactured the original Storm Trooper for Episode IV in 1977. George Lucas won in California, and now, to ensure that decision is upheld, the case has been taken to the High Court in London.

Shepperton Design has counter-sued, claiming it is the rightful owner of the armor molds (and can therefore create and sell armor) and that it also deserves a share in the multi-billion dollar revenue accrued by the Star Wars merchandise sold over the years based on their creation.

I cannot profess to knowing why George Lucas would sue for any reason other than a cut of the profit, which seems like a dick move (a technical term) for sure. Then again, I have not really supported anything he has done in recent years, so I do have a bias.

Read the original article here


	De Jawa Vu April 13, 2008 Comment 1 Imagine getting your armor done from the original molds that made the original stormtroopers in ANH?!?!?!?!?!?!? That would kick ass! Talking about meeting specks.... iam118 April 13, 2008 Comment 2 Its simple. He owns the rights to Stormtroopers, not this guy. Its not a dick move, its his right as owner. I can't even believe people are dumb enough to think George is doing anything wrong here. Owning molds does not give one the right to produce trademarked materials for profit. CAndyman April 14, 2008 Comment 3 Shepperton has been selling his re-casts of "his" armor sets and helmets for years, and while they're not bad they're not the best available in my opinion. I honestly thing the "D#& Move" here is on Sheperton's part, he didn't create the concept, that was Lucas' concept illustrated by MacQuarrie. Shepperton only reinterpreted the concept, and then his model was largely due to what materials were cheap and available at the time. Shepperton has just been trying to find a way to cash in on a piece of the "Empire". If all he wanted was to sell costumes, I know LFL would've been open to working out a contract, he just wanted to cash in on a job he already got paid for (and didn't have the foresight to retain merchadising rights for). But that's just my opinion. JediJef* April 14, 2008 Comment 4 I wonder why LFL has been slow to enter the costume business. Demand is clearly there, with people spending thousands on homemade setups. CAndyman April 14, 2008 Comment 5 QUOTE(JediJef @ April 14 2008, 07:26 AM) I wonder why LFL has been slow to enter the costume business. Demand is clearly there, with people spending thousands on homemade setups. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I've wondered about that too, you would've thought they would've been all over that the minute people started makeing their own and making appearances in them. DarthVader2932 April 17, 2008 Comment 6 Lucas haters seem to want him to be this big evil gremlin but he is protecting what legally belongs to him. I'd do the exact same thing.. On the costume side it does make one wonder why it's taken so long for them to enter the market. Maybe they just needed the timing to be right. CAndyman April 17, 2008 Comment 7 QUOTE(DarthVader2932 @ April 17 2008, 09:18 PM) Lucas haters seem to want him to be this big evil gremlin but he is protecting what legally belongs to him. I'd do the exact same thing.. On the costume side it does make one wonder why it's taken so long for them to enter the market. Maybe they just needed the timing to be right. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I guess I figured that they never really thought there would be a big enough market for it, but I guess the Legion showed them the error of THAT perspective.