British Court: Stormtroopers Don't Belong To Lucas

[Duffy12]

This seems kinda interesting.


From io9:

British Court: Stormtroopers Don't Belong To Lucas

Everyone who wants to make their own Stormtrooper costume without fear of reprisals from George Lucas, move to Britain. That seems to be the message sent by the British courts, which have just declared that Star Wars' Stormtroopers aren't copyrightable.

The British Court of Appeals upheld the original British verdict that the familiar white-and-black costume couldn't be considered copyrighted because it wasn't art. Instead, the costume has been considered "industrial design," and therefore only allowed to keep copyright for 15 years after creation. British Lord Justices Rix, Jacob and Patten considered the look of the Empire's cloned warriors to have a "utilitarian," rather than artistic, purpose, and denied Lucasfilm the right to enforce their US copyright in the United Kingdom.

It'll be interesting to see how this ruling could affect future British copyright cases. Can British companies now produce merchandise based on any movie or television designs, as long as they're older than 15 years, and use this as a defense? The Cybermen have been around for almost three times that long, let's see if someone's brave enough to test the BBC's legal wrath.

[EricJ]

If the suits were conceptually designed by Ralph McQuarrie and John Mollo while they just happened to be working on a movie that would use them, they're Lucas's.

From the header, thought Lucas was trying to copyright the name "Stormtroopers", which the Germans memorably owned thirty-five years before.

[Foggy]

Thank God I live in England

[Rob71]

Can British companies now produce merchandise based on any movie or television designs, as long as they're older than 15 years, and use this as a defense? The Cybermen have been around for almost three times that long, let's see if someone's brave enough to test the BBC's legal wrath.

I'll do it. Cybermen and Dalek costumes for all the Dr. Who freaks. Although a motorized Dalek costume would be the bomb. And one of those Darth Vader voice changers to make you sound like a Dalek. "Exterminate, exterminate, exterminate!". Yeah, I'm one of those Dr. Who freaks.

[Duffy12]

Originally Posted by EricJ

From the header, thought Lucas was trying to copyright the name "Stormtroopers", which the Germans memorably owned thirty-five years before.

Good point.

Fixed...Well maybe not.

.

[OrlandoEastwood]

So, does that mean, I could go to England and make a comedy about Stormtroopers and not get into trouble?

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by OrlandoEastwood

So, does that mean, I could go to England and make a comedy about Stormtroopers and not get into trouble?

As long as it's only released in England too

[EvilGav]

That text is a very short and very simplistic comment on the court case.

The case itself centred around Lucasfilm attempting to get a US court judgement on copy-right applied under UK law. Unsuprisingly, the UK and US legal systems differ on the minutiae of cases and verdicts and as such, the UK law lords decided that the US judgment wasn't valid in the UK.

What will no doubt now happen, is that Lucasfilms will now actually go to the UK courts and seek a verdict basing their case on UK law, rather than US law.

[jadedeath]

Originally Posted by OrlandoEastwood

So, does that mean, I could go to England and make a comedy about Stormtroopers and not get into trouble?

I'd say just contact Lucas... he doesn't seem to mind parodies of his work {judging by all of the parodies that are out there based on his work}

Logan

[Gamma_Winstead]

Originally Posted by jadedeath

I'd say just contact Lucas... he doesn't seem to mind parodies of his work {judging by all of the parodies that are out there based on his work}

Logan

You also have to pay for it though I believe.

[RBBrittain]

Originally Posted by EvilGav

That text is a very short and very simplistic comment on the court case.

The case itself centred around Lucasfilm attempting to get a US court judgement on copy-right applied under UK law. Unsuprisingly, the UK and US legal systems differ on the minutiae of cases and verdicts and as such, the UK law lords decided that the US judgment wasn't valid in the UK.

What will no doubt now happen, is that Lucasfilms will now actually go to the UK courts and seek a verdict basing their case on UK law, rather than US law.

Or, as the underlying article says, they may try to appeal it to the UK's infant Supreme Court, which just replaced the Law Lords on October 1 as their highest court. If they choose their cases the way the U.S. Supreme Court does, it probably would be heard since it raises a novel question of law. This is how it would be phrased to the U.S. high court: Does an otherwise-industrial product lose its industrial character in copyright law merely because it was made for use in a film?

Frankly, I see it as "industrial design" only within the fictional world of Star Wars; the whole reason these helmets have any real-world value is they are uniquely recognizable as Star Wars memorabilia. If this guy designed the helmets himself, he might have a case; but he admitted that he made them "on spec", i.e., based on Lucasfilm's design. Thus, the helmet was designed for a film as a work of art, not as an industrial product.

He may also try to claim the design lost its "derivative" status (i.e., as a derivative of the film's copyright) due to action figures appearing on the market before the 1977 release of Ep IV. However, that could turn around and bite him as that makes the design a licensed product, with its own copyright quirks that would take the case squarely in Lucasfilm's direction. (This is why film soundtracks nowadays are usually released BEFORE the movie; releasing the soundtrack album first as a stand-alone "sound recording" gives it more copyright protection than if it were released afterwards as a derivative of the movie, at least in the U.S.)

Though I can sympathize with the guy, I think I'd rule for Lucas. But then, I'm an American (and not a lawyer); that pretty much limits the value of my opinion.

[RBBrittain]

Originally Posted by jadedeath

I'd say just contact Lucas... he doesn't seem to mind parodies of his work {judging by all of the parodies that are out there based on his work}

Logan

At least in the U.S., parody is NOT the same thing as out-and-out copying. It's been established by our Supreme Court (Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, based on 2 Live Crew's raunchy rap remake of Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman") that parodies of copyrighted works are protected by the First Amendment; though the copyright owner may demand compensation (as 2 Live Crew was willing to do all along), they cannot insist on removing the work from the market completely (as Acuff-Rose Music wanted).

However, that limitation does NOT apply if it's not a parody; illegal non-parody copies of copyrighted works can be removed from the market by a court's injunction. (That's definitely true in the U.S., and probably in the UK as well; that's a cornerstone of copyright law.)

[JBL4645]

Originally Posted by EricJ

If the suits were conceptually designed by Ralph McQuarrie and John Mollo while they just happened to be working on a movie that would use them, they're Lucas's.

John Mollo picked up an Oscar for best costume design

This is preposterous! Only in England. What about France then?

[sfmarine]

Lucas may be losing money on this. His only contingency plan would to release the bloody Star Wars Trilogies!

[JBL4645]

Originally Posted by sfmarine

Lucas may be losing money on this. His only contingency plan would to release the bloody Star Wars Trilogies!

yes, yes...Original road show 70mm six-track Dolby stereo Dolbyformat42 is what we what!

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by sfmarine

Lucas may be losing money on this. His only contingency plan would to release the bloody Star Wars Trilogies!

I am sure he is sleeping quite comfy and warm at night on his 3 billions personal net worth

[mikejet]

The British are just mad because most of the officers on the Death Star were British.

[jadedeath]

Originally Posted by mikejet

The British are just mad because most of the officers on the Death Star were British.

The British make better officers.

I'd rather have a British guy leading the Empire into battle than... say... a Gungan... or a Wookie.

Logan

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by jadedeath

The British make better officers.

I'd rather have a British guy leading the Empire into battle than... say... a Gungan... or a Wookie.

Logan

They don't make better officer (Montgomery anyone ) but they do have more class