Lucas Loses Battle Over Star Wars Memorabilia

GEORGE LUCAS has lost a copyright battle with a propmaker over a collection of replica helmets from the STAR WARS films.

The director’s company, Lucasfilm, sued British businessman Andrew Ainsworth, who created the original Stormtrooper helmets for the 1976 sci-fi epic, after he began selling replicas made from the original mould used for the hit movies.

Officials at Lucasfilm filed a $20 million (?12 million) lawsuit against Ainsworth in the U.S., which successfully blocked the sale of the helmets, and had hoped for the same ruling in Britain.

But the U.K.’s Court of Appeal dismissed the case on Wednesday (16Dec09).

A judge ruled that even though Ainsworth does not own the design, he has not broken any British law because his creations are “not works of art.”

Bosses at Lucasfilm are now planning to take the case to Britain?s Supreme Court in a bid to overturn the verdict.

In a statement, the company says: “The judges in the case dismissed the creative efforts of film designers and prop makers in general, saying that props are the work of people who ‘did not make it as artists’ and not fine art that should be valued under the law.?