These are not the helmets you are looking for
If you haven’t heard the news then you may not be aware of this story, but a prop designer who worked on the original Star Wars movies has shown he has tonnes of Midichlorians by winning his court case against Lucasfilm.
Mr. Ainsworth was being sued for £12million for copyright infringement by George Lucas for continuing to sell Imperial Stormtrooper helmets, but the court ruled in his favour, allowing him to continue to sell the helmets in the United Kingdom.
The crux of the matter was how the helmets were classified. Lucasfilm claimed the helmets were ‘sculptures’ which meant that any copying of them would infringe company copyright. The High Court, however, said the helmets could not be described as works of art or sculptures in the UK.
Mr. Ainsworth’s is still unable to sell the items in the United States due to copyright restrictions applied to the designs, but his success means he is still celebrating. Rumours that he is celebrating at Mos Eisley Cantina are unsubstantiated.
The story goes to show just how important it is to make sure that anything you have logged under copyright or registered as a trademark is up to date, and covers everything it should. The case highlights how difficult it can be, even for someone as large as Lucasfilm, to make sure they are completely covered, but at ND Creative we ensure you get this help on all design or brand identity work as standard.
We know how important and valuable these details are for a business, and we’re here to help you through every step of the way.