The Empire Strikes Back

In April of 2008 we mentioned the lawsuit brought by George Lucas against the original designer and creator of the Stormtrooper outfit in a English court for copyright and trademark infringement. The English judge in that case ruled that the suits were not covered by copyright law because they were not works of art and a £10 million (approx. $16.5 million) damages award against Mr Ainsworth in the US could not be enforced in the UK.

According to WalesOnline,

Now Lucasfilm has brought an action in the Court of Appeal to try to prove that the Stormtrooper suits are sculptures and therefore works of art covered by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act. Mr Lucas’s company is also claiming that an English court should allow the US court jurisdiction in cases involving internet trading even though the trader may not have a physical presence in the foreign country.

Tags: Copyright, english courts, george lucas, lucas films, star wars, stormtroopers, Trademark, uk law