Lucasfilm sole owner of Stormtrooper design

July 31, 2008 A British justice ruled Thursday that Lucasfilm is the sole owner of the iconic Stormtrooper costume designs -- not a plastics manufacturer who was hired in 1976 to reproduce designs created by a team of Lucasfilm artists. Andrew Ainsworth, a principal of Shepperton Design Studios, had claimed he created the designs and reproduced Stormtrooper helmets for sale. However, Mann refused to enforce the judgment in Britain, finding that Ainsworth's U.S. sales, which totaled $50,000-$60,000, was not significant enough for U.S. jurisdiction.

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