Helmets in England

[moyer777]

So I ran across this news article today.  Interesting.

LONDON, England (AP) -- It's a storm in a Stormtrooper's helmet. Lawyers for George Lucas' Lucasfilm Ltd. and a British prop designer faced off in London's High Court Tuesday over rights to the molded white Stormtrooper uniforms from the "Star Wars" films.


"Star Wars" prop designer Andrew Ainsworth, above, and Lucasfilm are in court over the films' Stormtroopers

Standing alongside the bewigged, black-robed lawyers in court was the object of their dispute -- a 6-foot (1.83 meter) tall, helmeted warrior of the evil Galactic Empire. Lucasfilm attorney Michael Bloch called the menacing figure "one of the most iconic images in modern culture."

Lucasfilm claims violation of copyright and trademarks by prop designer Andrew Ainsworth, who sculpted the Stormtrooper helmets for the first "Star Wars" movie in 1977. London-based Ainsworth sells replicas of the helmets and armor, which he says are made from the original molds, on his Web site for up to £1,000 ($2,000; €1,300).

Lucasfilm won a $20 million (€25 million) judgment against Ainsworth in a California court in 2006, and is seeking to have it enforced in Britain.

Ainsworth is countersuing, claiming the copyright rests with him and seeking a share of merchandising revenue from the six "Star Wars" films, which his lawyers estimate at £12 billion ($24 billion; €15 billion).

Lucasfilm and its lawyers claim the design of the Stormtroopers was created by Lucas and his artistic team, and was already in place by the time Ainsworth was hired to create the helmets.

"The look to be created had been worked on by a large team of people for perhaps more than a year," Bloch said at the start of the 10-day hearing.

"We are not just talking here about the creation of a costume," he added. "It is part costume, part being."

Lifelike as they are, he said -- in words to dismay many a "Star Wars" fan -- the Stormtroopers are not real.

Bloch said there would be much talk during the case of helmets and armor.

"There are no helmets; there is no armor," he said. "There are no half-human, half-cloned warriors such as Stormtroopers. What we are dealing with are characters of the imagination. ... They are the stuff of fantasy."


They did not appear to be dream companions to the judge, Anthony Mann, who cast a glance at the silent Stormtrooper and a black-masked model of an imperial fighter pilot standing beside him.

"Are they going to stay there for the entire trial?" he asked.

Here is the source, there is a video as well.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/04/08/star.wars.court.ap/index.html?iref=hpmostpop#cnnSTCVideo

[Rico]

This has been one of the greatest sagas and conflicts in the Star Wars field of collecting for years.  I'm not an expert on the whole thing, but the way I see it Lucas owns everything Star Wars related.  So unless you have a license from Lucasfilm, you better be very careful about trying to sell unlicensed stuff.  I very much doubt Ainsworth owns the copyright to the Stormtrooper helmet made for the films.  He was working for Lucas, did a job and that work then is owned by LFL.  He has already lost in court once.  I see this going the same way in the UK.

[Bryancd]

OH Lord, not here!!!! I thought I accidently stumbled into the RPF last year!

[Dan M]

Who designed it?  I'm pretty sure that the original design was McQuarrie's.  This whole thing is ridiculous.

[Bryancd]

The original concept drawings were McQuarrie's, however between those originals and the retaining of Ainsworth's company in the UK, they morphed into what we saw on screen. Ainsworth claims he designed the final production design and no one denies he made them all, it's a question of who owns the rights of THE ST helmets we say in the films.

[Dan M]

But he didn't create it from scratch, so how can he claim to have ownership when it was based on the work of others.  That assumes that he didn't create it as work for hire and that he has a leg to stand on. 

Regardless, if anyone had a legitimate claim to the stormtrooper design, they'd have gone after all that Kenner money back in the early 80s.  This doesn't pass the smell test.

[iceman]

Doesn't this fall under intellectual property as he was working for Lucas at the time, therefore would not Lucas own it as he was paid to draw the concept and make the helmet

[Rico]

Doesn't this fall under intellectual property as he was working for Lucas at the time, therefore would not Lucas own it as he was paid to draw the concept and make the helmet

Precisely.  Unless he had some unusual contract when he did this, he worked for Lucasfilm on the helmet.  Therefore, LFL owns it.  Pretty simple.

[Bryancd]

Right, which is why LFL was awarded damages in the US court but UK law seems to take a different view which Ainsworth is trying to wiggle through. Either way, he's done.

[jedijeff]

Yes, I tend to agree with the rest, that this would fall under LFL property, since Ainsworth was paid to create the helmet, and even if he came up with the final design, he worked off of Mcquarries concepts, and probably Georges direction. I suspect the contracts are not as complex back then as they are today, I know at my company, anything I create well working for the company, on their equipment, their time and for their projects is their property, as I had to sign a contract staing that. I dont see him winning this