More Lucas v Ainsworth

Here's the Reuters article from July 27, 2011, that gives us an update on the lawsuit between Lucasfilm and Andrew Ainsworth's Shepperton Design Studios surrounding the rights to replicate Stormtrooper armor and helmets. Lucasfilm won in California courts, but was recently ruled against in the UK. This essentially means that SDS can't ship to the States, but will continue producing armor.

The thing that bothers me the most is the fact that the High Court doesn't consider movie props and costumes to be works of art. That's just a slap in the face to everyone in the film industry including Andrew Ainsworth.

It also bothers me (to a lesser degree) that the media likes to use stock images/video of the 501st Legion to illustrate these articles, although SDS armor makes up a very small percentage of the suits worn by Legion members, mainly due to the price point of SDS's unlicensed product.

Cheesegraters and Jawbones: The Hearing

I came across the full hearing document from propmaker Andrew Ainsworth's recent court loss to Lucasfilm regarding claims of intellectual property rights over various Star Wars helmets and armor including those of the classic Stormtrooper, Imperial Gunner, TIE Pilot, and others. Hardcore costuming enthusiasts may find a few gems within the lengthy court document. Although not directly mentioned by name, I was excited to see the 501st Legion get a tip of the hat in this passage:

85. In 2004 Mr Ainsworth set up a website (www.sdsprops.com) and started to sell products in a concerted manner. There is a significant market for such products amongst aficionados of the Star War (sic) films all over the world, some of whom organise themselves into "Garrisons".

Yeah, we crazy fans will actually pay money for this stuff. And on a related note, it seems that Ainsworth's invoice for Stormtrooper helmets in 1976 was about the same as one can expect to pay now for a Master Replicas Collectors Edition bucket ($98 US):

39. Mr Pemberton told Mr Ainsworth that he wanted 50 helmets and Mr Ainsworth quoted £20 per helmet. Mr Pemberton said he would have to get back to his customer about that and a couple of days later the price was approved.

And, believe it or not, the armor itself was also priced very similar to what a fan-made kit would go for today on ebay (~$755 US):

43. Mr Ainsworth agreed to attempt to produce armour. Over the following weeks he did so, both for the initial filming and for subsequent studio production. He also modified the armour in order to make it more wearable, based on the experience of actors on the Tunisia shoot, and produced modified tools to produce it. The armour that one sees in the 1977 film was all made by him. He made 50 sets. In relation to the armour, Mr Ainsworth contracted directly with Lucas. His invoices were drawn on the instructions of Mr Mollo. He did not have an order number before the Tunisia shoot, but he obtained one afterwards. His first invoice was for 50 sets of armour at £385 per set, and his invoice for new tools, including some for additions, apparently, was for 12 sets of tools at £200 per unit.

AA versus GL

It's all over the news lately, and inevitably friends and co-workers will ask us Star Wars fans if we have been following the story. British propmaker Andrew Ainsworth, the man who produced the original Stormtrooper armor (as well as some other costume parts) for Lucasfilm back in the mid-1970s is being sued in British High Court for making and selling replica Star Wars helmets and armor through his site Shepperton Design Studios. This is the second case LFL has brought against AA---the first was a 2006 case resulting in a California court awarding Lucasfilm $20 million in damages. Ainsworth claims that he is producing props "from the original moulds" (British spelling) but this is a hot topic amongst serious replica prop fans like those on the RPF, who argue that AA is speaking in half-truths, and that many parts of the armor have been reconstructed to fill in for broken or missing components (some mention of this on the SDS site). Furthermore, Ainsworth claims to be the original sculptor of some pieces, and therefore the artist who holds the rights to further produce the props. This point is now in debate as some photos of prototype clay sculpts are supposedly being brought as evidence against SDS. My personal take is that anyone who has the potential for financial gain based upon the popularity of Star Wars should have stepped up a long time ago (like 30 years ago) to ensure they maintained their intellectual property rights. I also think that Ainsworth, like other propmakers, could have continued his operation if he kept it on the down-low without placing advertisements and opening a full-blown website complete with pricing. Why put Lucasfilm in a position where they are forced to take action against you? I'm no law student, but I'd love to be a fly on the wall of these courtroom proceedings if just to see the surreal sight of a line-up of original Stormtrooper, TIE Pilot, Navy Trooper, Death Star Gunner, Rebel Fleet Trooper and Tusken Raider masks in front of judge and jury (see if you can pick them out of the court artist rendering above). You can also click here for miscellaneous media coverage. An odd side effect is the media's lack of relevant Stormtrooper imagery which has resulted in a lot of 501st members getting pictured in the news lately.