Lucasfilm Alleges Copyright Infringement by Lightsaber Academy

When you are the owner of one of the most valuable film franchises in history, you have to take steps to protect your intellectual property ("IP").  Lucasfilm certainly can't be faulted for that.  

Lucasfilm has filed suit in federal court in California to enforce its rights against a school calling itself the Lightsaber Academy, which advertises that it teaches the "Art of Lightsaber Combat", and various instructor certifications for a fee.   Thus, the Lightsaber Academy people look like they are engaging in a commercial activity while utilizing the words "Jedi" and "Lightsaber". 

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Copyright Infringement or Mere Inspiration?

Remember when attorneys for Robin Thicke and Pharrell filed a lawsuit which was basically a preemptive strike against the Estate of Marvin Gaye on the issue of whether the song “Blurred Lines” infringed on  Mr. Gaye’s “Got to Give it Up“?  Well, it didn’t have the effect that the plaintiffs envisioned – the defendant, the Estate of Mr. Gaye, ended up with a $5.3 Million judgment on a counterclaim for copyright infringement against the plaintiffs.

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The Visual Artists Rights Act - A Primer

There cannot be a discussion of copyright issues without a survey of the Visual Artist Rights Act (“VARA”).    This addition to the Copyright Act in 1990 was a welcome one for painters, photographers, sculptors and creators of visual artwork.  One major difference from the “traditional” copyright law is that rather than protecting reproductions of artwork, VARA protects the actual original pieces themselves, limited to “works of visual art” such as paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints and still photographs produced for exhibition.  What VARA was designed to protect was an artist’s moral rights in the artists’ work.

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