Star Wars stormtroopers in British court

by Amy Judd | April 8, 2008 at 06:11 pm

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A prop designer who made the stormtroopers costumes for the 1977 cult hit 'Star Wars' appeared for the first time in court today over a dispute with George Lucas about the fact that he doesn't own the rights to sell replicas of the costumes on the internet.

Lucas's production company Lucasfilm is suing designer Andrew Ainsworth, who is now selling replicas of the costumes to fans of the film for up to 1,800 pounds (2,257 euros, 3,545 dollars), for copyright infringement.

The unusual case saw a range of armour and helmets from the science fiction classic go on display in the 19th century courtroom, raising eyebrows among the legal profession.

At the start of the case, judge George Mann asked Michael Bloch, lawyer for Lucasfilm: "Will they be there for the entire case?"

Bloch replied: "You will hear a lot about helmets and armour. As far as we know, they are half-human and half non-human and are known as stormtroopers.

"What we are dealing with are characters of the imagination."