Creator of Star Wars George Lucas has alleged that the British designer, Andrew Ainsworth, who is making replicas of the Star Wars helmets is liable for copyright violation. Aggrieved by the order of the appeals court in UK, he has now taken the case to Royale court of justice. In the first suit filed in US, Lucas's company, Lucasfilm, won a $20m (£10.09m) damages judgment for copyright infringement against Ainsworth in 2005. it convinced the judge that sales of costumes in the US violates copyrights held by the company. Thereafter Lucas tried to enforce the judgment in UK. However, the UK court rejected copyright protection for helmets as equivalents of sculptures and held that there was no copyright violation. That decision was further affirmed by the appeal court.
Ainsworth, from Twickenham, is the creator of original helmets and suits for Stromtroopers and is selling the same since 2004. he is arguing in the suit that he made the original helmets, seen in the film, based on 2D artwork before eventually perfecting the design and creating a further 50 helmets and other body armour. If the suit is decided against Ainsworth, he will be stopped from selling armour, which he usually sells for about $1800 each.
Other directors of fiction films have supported the step of George Lucas. Lord of the Rings director, Peter Jackson, has stated that, “The U.K.'s long-standing reputation as a creative hub and a centre for film production is significantly threatened. To assert that a film's props and visuals are not the product of an artistic endeavor and therefore not worthy of copyright protections is ridiculous”.
The issue to be decided in the case relates to what copyright protection is provided by English law to “three-dimensional works” and whether a claim of "U.S. copyright infringement “is justiciable in England”.
0 comments:
Post a Comment