Stormtrooper Replicas: Final Strike By British Court of Appeal

A British Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Andrew Ainsworth, the defendant in a 2008 copyright infringement lawsuit brought by George Lucas' production company, LucasFilm. As previously discussed in my blog post here, Lucas Film was seeking to enforce a $20 million judgment awarded in 2006 against Ainsworth for replicating without permission certain "Stormtrooper" helmets.  In the British Court of Appeal's decision, the court rejected all claims brought by LucasFilm including the breach of copyright claim finding the helmets did not qualify as sculptures under British Copyright law.

The case also goes into an interesting discussion on whether or not attempting to enforce a U.S. Judgment in Britain is forum shopping.  Read more here.