Washington
(ANI):
The
copyright
fight
between
Star
Wars
director
George
Lucas
and
designer
of
the
original
Imperial
Stormtrooper
helmet
Andrew
Ainsworth,
has
ended
in
a
split
decision.
The
fight
had
started
when
Ainsworth
offered
unauthorized
versions
of
the
classic
headgear
on
the
Web
to
fans,
which
prompted
Lucas
to
sue
Shepperton
Design
Studios
for
infringing
copyright.
Ainsworth
on
the
other
hand
claimed
that
he
had
dreamt
up
the
concept
and
should
be
allowed
to
sell
his
designs.
When
the
case
came
to
the
London
courtroom,
High
Court
Justice
Anthony
Mann
ruled
in
both
parties''
favour
on
July
31.
Mann
determined
that
Ainsworth
did
indeed
violate
Lucas''
U.S.
copyright
on
the
Stormtrooper
uniform
by
selling
look-alike
costumes
online
to
customers
in
the
United
States.
Mann
also
denied
Ainsworth's
claim
that
he
held
the
U.K.
copyright
to
the
white-clad
character
and
was
entitled
to
a
cut
of
the
some
24
billion
dollars
in
merchandising
revenue
Lucasfilm
has
collected
from
the
six
Star
Wars
films.
However,
the
jurist
also
refused
to
uphold
a
20
million
dollars
judgment
Lucas
won
in
California
against
Ainsworth's
Shepperton
Design
Studios.
Reason
being
that
the
amount
Ainsworth
made
out
of
selling
his
wares
overseas
out
of
his
Twickenham
prop
shop,
50,000
dollars
to
60,000
dollars,
with
some
suits
selling
for
as
much
as
3,600
dollars,
wasn't
enough
to
make
him
vulnerable
to
American
jurisdiction.
"We
won," E!online
quoted
Lucasfilm's
lawyer,
Mark
Owen,
as
telling
reporters
after
the
dual
decisions
were
handed
down.
"At
the
end
of
the
day,
there
is
an
order
that
Mr.
Ainsworth
infringed
our
copyright,
and
the
next
stage
of
the
case
will
be
discussing
remedies
for
that," he
had
stated.
Meanwhile,
Ainsworth''s
attorney,
Seamus
Andrew,
said
the
ruling
meant
that
his
client
could
sell
his
light-saber-resistant
getups
anywhere
except
the
States.
Further
hearings
remain
a
possibility
in
case
either
side
wanted
to
appeal
today''s
ruling.