George Lucas loses court case over Stormtrooper helmets

[Kegg]

^
Bingo. If Lucas had wanted the work for hire Temis is talking about, then it's his fault for not making his film in the United States.

For one thing, now anyone can make a "utility helmet" that looks like a Storm Trooper and sell it without risk of persecution.

Anyone who is:

1. In the United Kingdom.
2. Does not sell to the United States, where the Stormtrooper helmet is still under copyright.

 

[JRS]

There was a nice article about this on BBC, with a video where the guy makes one of the stormtrooper helmets

A prop designer who made the original Stormtrooper helmets for Star Wars has won his copyright battle with director George Lucas over his right to sell replicas. The five-year saga, which ended in the highest court in the land, has stakes of galactic proportions.
...
was in 2002, when struggling to pay school fees, that he first sold a helmet and "bits and pieces" gathering dust on top of his wardrobe. 'Pandora's box' To his surprise they fetched £60,000 at Christie's, leaving him in no doubt about their potential.
"The phone didn't stop ringing... I dug out the old moulds, cleaned them down and made a few helmets," he says.
The hard core fans recognised them as the real thing, he recalls, but by the time he had sold 19 or so to the US, so did Lucas.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12910683

I dont want to sound rude, but I think the whole issue was/is mainly about money, not so much about the artistic stuff
Lucas saw a that somebody took money the that he could earn himself..and took action. And this guy did not want to loose his earnings from the helmets.
Was the ruling correct? I guess it was..and certainly in the spirit of the law in the UK.
These copyright things do seem to be very different from country to county
Does Lucasfilm sell these costumes in any form,
by the way?

 

[I Grok Spock]

^ Yes and yes.

No full trooper armor yet, though.

 

[David cgc]

How does that have any impact on his ruling over copyright law?

It's called bias. Only someone who didn't understand or care about the iconic image of a stormtrooper who call the helmet a utilitarian object.

Oh, pull the other one. It's a mass-produced plastic thing that goes on your head. You think the chairs on the Millennium Falcon should be subject to the same protections? Or Han Solo's pants? Or Doctor Who's coat?

Please. I want you to say you think the BBC should, in twenty years, have the right to send a C&D to anyone in the world who sells an ankle-length tan men's overcoat with a blue lining.

Yeah it may be great in the short term, but this will have a chilling effect on those who wish to make money from their creative efforts.

How so? Will directors, now knowing that their corporate employers won't be the only people who can merchandise their props fifteen years from now decide to have their squadrons of stormtroopers march through the halls naked rather than giving them distinctive helmets? Or will designers be less willing to work on films and television, knowing that they'd be able to legally merchandise their work in fifteen years? Granted, so will anyone else, but that's still more than the slim to nothing share they'd get from every helmet LucasFilm sold.

 

[JarodRussell]

This is because he uses the original molds, isn't it? Because then it's only a replica and not a work of art since he didn't sculpt anything?

 

[AviTrek]

This would also apply to Bobba Fett helmets and Princess Leiah slave dresses I would think.

This would apply to pretty much any movie prop older than 15 years. Provided of course that you make them in the UK.

 

[JarodRussell]

This would also apply to Bobba Fett helmets and Princess Leiah slave dresses I would think.

This would apply to pretty much any movie prop older than 15 years. Provided of course that you make them in the UK.

And don't sell them in the US.