George Lucas Shafted by British Court over Star Wars costume copyright
In 1976 Andrew Ainsworth was hired to make helmets for the Imperial storm troopers in the classic Star Wars films. . Mr Ainsworth made 50 helmets, for which he was paid £20 each. He also made equipment for other characters, earning about £30,000 from the Star Wars films. Aware of the demand for Star Wars memorabilia, in 2004 Ainsworth starting making and selling these helmets from the original molds.
Lucasfilm sued him in the United States. He did not defend the and a California court awarded $20million in damages against him. When Lucasfilm tried to enforce its judgment in Britain, the trial court ruled that the models were not sculptures and so did not have copyright protection, which would extend 70 years beyond the death of their creator. Instead he ruled that the models were industrial designs, which could be protected for only 15 years.
On December 17, 2009, The British High Court dismissed Lucasfilm’s appeal and said that the helmet and armor had a “utilitarian” rather than artistic purpose. They also ruled that Lucasfilm could not enforce its US copyright in Britain, but agreed that Mr Ainsworth did not own the copyright.
When asked how he might celebrate, Mr Ainsworth said: “Maybe we’ll go and find another galaxy.” Lucasfilms is considering an appeal to the new British Supreme Court.
This is a bad decision. Under U.S. law, the copyrightability of sculptural works is subject to a requirement that the work itself be a work of art, that is, a work of some minimal—but not necessarily meritorious—creative or artistic authorship.
Lead trial counsel for Dole was 
