Star Wars outfit ruling sequel due

7:32am Friday 1st August 2008

The galactic struggle over Star Wars stormtroopers fought in the High Court may be made into a sequel.

High Court judge Mr Justice Mann was expected to bring an end to the battle over who owns the copyright to the familiar figures from the hit series of films. Instead, he agreed to a further hearing for both sides to apply for permission to challenge his findings at the Court of Appeal.

Mr Justice Mann's court in London was invaded by the sinister figures in April at the start of a legal fight to prevent a prop designer from selling replicas of the famous outfits. The stormtrooper and other sinister figures from the films stood glaring at the judge during the multi-million pound case brought by Star Wars creator George Lucas.

He sued prop designer Andrew Ainsworth, the man who made the first helmets and suits for the original 1977 film.

Some of the helmets used in the films returned to the front benches of the court when Mr Justice Mann ruled on the copyright issues. He found that the film-maker behind the series of sci-fi films did succeed in his claim that Mr Ainsworth infringed the US copyright.

But all the other claims aimed at stopping the replicas being sold from Mr Ainsworth's shop in Twickenham, south west London, failed. The designer's own claim for copyright of the helmets also failed.

At the start of the original hearing, Michael Bloch QC, representing Lucasfilm, looked at the armour and helmets surrounding him before telling Mr Justice Mann: "The gentlemen sitting in front of me and around me, who are known throughout the world, are the subject matter of the entire case."

Mr Justice Mann replied: "Will they be there for the entire case?"

The court was told that Star Wars fans are willing to pay up to £1,800 for a suit and helmet.

Lucasfilm has already successfully sued Mr Ainsworth for £10 million for copyright infringement in California.

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