Stormtroopers Suffer Crushing Defeat In The English Court - Star Wars Copyright Decision Serves As A Reminder To The Creative Industries
Mondaq Business Briefing › United States Law Articles in English (2009)
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Stormtroopers Suffer Crushing Defeat In The English Court - Star Wars Copyright Decision Serves As A Reminder To The Creative Industries
On 16 December 2009 the Court of Appeal of England & Wales gave its decision in the case of LucasFilm Ltd v. Ainsworth. The Court dismissed an appeal by LucasFilm against a first instance decision denying protection under UK copyright law to the helmets and armour of the Stormtroopers featured in the first Star Wars film and allowed a cross-appeal by the defendant against the decision of the trial court which accepted a claim against his under US copyright (which was held to have been infringed by the defendant through sales of Stormtrooper costumes and models to US customers). Both issues - the availability of copyright protection under UK law to design items and works of applied art, and th...
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