Watch Out For Copyright!

[Vrogy]

http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/04/star-wars-costu.html

"Lucasfilm is suing the British prop designer who crafted the Stormtroopers' signature white battle suits for nearly $20 million, according to The Guardian.

Director George Lucas claims that Andrew Ainsworth, who has been reproducing the Star Wars costumes and selling them for up to $3,600 apiece, is infringing upon his film company's copyright. Ainsworth, who sells a wide variety of Star Wars props on his Shepperton Design Studios website, has filed a countersuit asking for a share of Star Wars' massive merchandising revenue.

Ainsworth says he's got a claim on the copyright: "As far as I am concerned, I am the original maker and I'm using the original moulds," he told the Guardian.

Lucas Licensing says it's just protecting its intellectual property. "We would never want to discourage fans from showcasing their enthusiasm for the movies," said a spokesman. "However, anyone who tried to profit from using our copyrights and trademarks without authorisation ... we will go after them."

While a California court found in favor of Lucasfilm in 2006, awarding $20 million in damages, the legal battle has spread overseas as the film company seeks enforcement of the ruling. The high court in London will take up the case Tuesday. "

Most definitely relevant to our interests.

 

[Gokussj5okazu]

Not exactly shocking to see if finally happen. I can actually understand Lucasfilm's reasoning, this guy was apparently in it for the coin. Good thing that kind of stuff doesn't fly around here.

 

[Adam]

And none of us are in it for the profit.


$20 mill wow.

 

[Keegan]

And none of us are in it for the profit.
$20 mill wow.

You sure?

Just kidding,
but that guy, really seemed to have gotten taken out by the government...

 

[LastSpartan]

This guy was not selling a bunch of suits, he was selling a lot.

3,600$ is a lot of money for one suit. And I'm sure he sold lot more than just one

Anyway good job buddy, now you have to find 20M

 

[abandonship]

This guy was not selling a bunch of suits, he was selling a lot.

3,600$ is a lot of money for one suit. And I'm sure he sold lot more than just one

Anyway good job buddy, now you have to find 20M

He better start cranking out more suits then! hahaha

 

[LastSpartan]

If I was him, I would give my molds and the cast I have to Lucasfilm.

I would shut down my website too.

Maybe they would ask less than 20M that way

 

[NZTK]

It will be interesting to see how this pans out, Ainsworth is the original sculptor of the armour, so he does hold some intellectual property rights to the design I believe.

 

[tonsofhoopla]

He better start cranking out more suits then! hahaha

LOL

-Justin

 

[volkov]

Hmm, I really don't understand how the creator of the armor can be sued, unless lucas bought exclusive rights from him back in 1976.. I can't seem to find any details on that. It almost sounds as though lucas just bought the helms and didn't bother with anything legal.

 

[CPU64]

Hmm, I really don't understand how the creator of the armor can be sued, unless lucas bought exclusive rights from him back in 1976.. I can't seem to find any details on that. It almost sounds as though lucas just bought the helms and didn't bother with anything legal.

Poor George is just bitter that someone else is making a living..
He hasn't been the same since his wife left with the window repair man...

Adam, I want your helmet rofl.

 

[leegrisham]

Most definitely relevant to our interests.

Not as relevant as you might think. As long as we don't sell our gear we don't really have any thing to fear.
Personal Fan fare is not illegal. If it was lawyers could just camp outside of conventions and hand out C&Ds to everyone with a self made costume. Imagine the fallout.

And even though this guy might be the original sculptor, and even if he did have claim to original intellectual rights its still very unlikely that he could sell these without giving portions of the money to Lucas. I would imagine this is settled out of court for a less that 20M figure. Unless this guy is serious about the countersuit.

 

[Rob]

Hmm, I really don't understand how the creator of the armor can be sued, unless lucas bought exclusive rights from him back in 1976.. I can't seem to find any details on that. It almost sounds as though lucas just bought the helms and didn't bother with anything legal.

I make costumes for movies and most of the time you paid for your work. The move retains ALL rights to art, molds you email on the job. You have to get it wrighting just to put the pic of what you have made in you portfolio. Lest say your help build a house, You get paid you go home you do not say I think I will hang out at the pool for a week. Your job is done get to the next one.

 

[thisismadness2]

This guy was not selling a bunch of suits, he was selling a lot.

3,600$ is a lot of money for one suit. And I'm sure he sold lot more than just one

Anyway good job buddy, now you have to find 20M

well he could fight Floyd "Money" Mayweather lol if he wins theres his money yea.....but yea that guy is screwed

 

[Vrogy]

For the record, 20 million at around 3600 per suit is around 5500 suits.
He'd better get started..

 

[Vexona]

George Lucas *clearly* needs more money XD

I wonder how the 501st in UK feels about this...

 

[Spartan137]

Well, this doesn't completly effect us, although it is an important thing to watch.

For starts, the guy was using the ORIGINAL molds to do this. It doesn't matter that he was the guy who built it, it was Lucas Films' property. He couldn't have expected to get away with selling copy-righted material without permission. If he had modified them, it would be a different story. As far as I know, we aren't reproducing any original materials that BUNGiE created.

This is a guess, but I would say that most of the Pep. files on the site and on the Wikia are all fan made, and not taken straight from the game. Even if they WERE, it's not being sold, and the builder is more than likely going to modify the output anyway.

However, it should be seen as a warning light as to what we are doing. BE CAREFUL! Heres a list for newer people (older too )

Don't mass produce ANYTHING and SELL them. Commisions are more than likely ok, and selling off bulk should be as well.

Don't use the original to recast something w/o modifing it. Same goes for Pepakura (files, not physical construction). Take the original and modify. This shouldn't be to bad, as you would more than likely need to modify it anywho to fit your body. Or just build it from scratch.

If you do get in trouble, just do as the company asks the first time. Don't put up a hissy fit, don't argue, don't make demands. BUNGiE probably doesn't mind (If your following tips 1 + 2), seeing as Frankie (the real one) is currently a member, but Microsoft is a completly different story. If they give you a request to cease actions, just do it.

Follow those three, and you'll avoid a lawsuit.

Oh, and excuse the necro-post. Just wanted to voice my opinion.

 

[Kratos Chaziyz]

Well, this doesn't completly effect us, although it is an important thing to watch.

For starts, the guy was using the ORIGINAL molds to do this. It doesn't matter that he was the guy who built it, it was Lucas Films' property. He couldn't have expected to get away with selling copy-righted material without permission. If he had modified them, it would be a different story. As far as I know, we aren't reproducing any original materials that BUNGiE created.

This is a guess, but I would say that most of the Pep. files on the site and on the Wikia are all fan made, and not taken straight from the game. Even if they WERE, it's not being sold, and the builder is more than likely going to modify the output anyway.

However, it should be seen as a warning light as to what we are doing. BE CAREFUL! Heres a list for newer people (older too )

Don't mass produce ANYTHING and SELL them. Commisions are more than likely ok, and selling off bulk should be as well.

Don't use the original to recast something w/o modifing it. Same goes for Pepakura (files, not physical construction). Take the original and modify. This shouldn't be to bad, as you would more than likely need to modify it anywho to fit your body. Or just build it from scratch.

If you do get in trouble, just do as the company asks the first time. Don't put up a hissy fit, don't argue, don't make demands. BUNGiE probably doesn't mind (If your following tips 1 + 2), seeing as Frankie (the real one) is currently a member, but Microsoft is a completly different story. If they give you a request to cease actions, just do it.

Follow those three, and you'll avoid a lawsuit.

Oh, and excuse the necro-post. Just wanted to voice my opinion.

First off, well worth the necro post, very comforting. Secondly, the chances of bungie or M$ giving someone a problem with this is less than remote. the closest thing ANYBODY has ever come to having a problem was LA's fake C&D order. I mean, how many people (for those of you with access to the classifieds, self included) do you see with a classified that looks like "Selling entire armor sets for X$'s, taking pre-orders now! get em while their hot!". None really, just people trying to (a. fund raise, (b. get rid of either excess or inadequite bits, (c. show off and get some firsthand quality assessment from an unbiased side.

So yeah, point well made S-137, thanks!

-Chupa