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George Lucas C&Ds 'Lightsaber Laser'
dward90 writes "George Lucas thinks that bulky, handheld lasers shouldn't be produced because they are his intellectual property. From CNN: 'George Lucas wants to force a laser company to stop making a new, high-powered product he says looks too much like the famous lightsaber from his classic sci-fi series.
Lucasfilm Ltd. has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Hong Kong-based Wicked Lasers, threatening legal action if it doesn't change its Pro Arctic Laser series or stop selling it altogether.'"
Dildos look too much like MY penis. Can I sue their makers?
Surely those things are like 50 years old now. Feels like it. Don't tell me - the problem is that Lucas is still alive.
But now I remember and want to go to the Wicked Laser web site and buy stuff.
Thanks for reminding me, George! Say hi to Babs Streisand when you see her!
The threats are merely directed at the company's claim that said laser can do the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs.
Anyone else notice how Lucas tends to just shit all over anything remotely reminiscent of Star Wars? My fiancee is convinced it's because Star Wars prevented him from having any other successful films for the rest of this life, and he resents the series because of that.
My response is that I don't know how you can resent something that makes you a gajilionaire, but whatever.
Living With a Nerd
I don't care about the legal implications of what the laser looks like, but I think it would be a lot cooler to have if it didn't look like a toy. I don't want someone getting a hold of it and thinking it is a light saber and shooting me with it. Dangerous tools should never be made to resemble toys, regardless of who owns the trademarks on the toys.
This is the look & feel suit in meat-space this time. Those never go anywhere.
-- Prepared at the direction of, or to be sent to Legal Counsel, in anticipation of litigation. Attorney Client Pri
I hope Lucas also got a patent on a process for establishing "prior art" through the use of a non-functional prop, imagination, and delusions of grandeur.
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
...they're the ones with the functioning lasers!
Populus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur...
"Force shits upon Reason's back." - Poor Richard's Almanac
Like the old saying goes...
"How many times can you look directly into a laser beam before going blind? Twice, once for each eye."
The last thing I want is a blue laser in the hands of a 7 year old. Don't we have laws preventing this sort of thing? I'm glad that this toy costs $200 as that will make it unaffordable for most.
This makes me want to wear orange goggles all the time.
0.5W ?! Call me when they sell a real laser.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
They should be awarded. Can you imagine how much time and effort it took to make such a small injection-mold?
I can see it now....
Scientist: We developed Hyperdrive!!
George: Nope...I did...didn't you see my movie...geesh.
I think George is heading down the path of the Dark Side....
He is making an attempt to protect his copyright. It's BS but he has to have lawyers and other people that activaly search for products that look or are called anything similar to anything he holds a copyright on. Because if he doesn't appear to be protecting it then he loses it, and also a shit load of really really krappy knock off will come on the market, and I think that no one wants that.
The fact is a light saber isn't a laser, I digress. Why isn't he suing all the clone "light saber" flashlights and all the plastic toys not authorized by Lucas. Pfff. I think he is seeing his DVD sales drop so he has to get his name out in the public again.
IANAL, but I doubt Wicked Lasers is very worried.
Movies get copyright protection, or trademark protection.
Hardware gets patent protection.
If George Lucas has a (design) patent on the light saber, it's expired by now.
I seriously doubt 'George Lucas' had anything to do with this. It's possible he's not even aware of it. This was done by the Lucasfilm Ltd legal department. George doesn't exactly engage in day-to-day operations....he has 'people' for that.
I judt got a nre Kinesis keybiartf so please excusr ant egregiou typos.
If he succeeds, then REAL scifi authors could have a field day. No more helicopters, hovercraft, or zillions of other inventions they wrote about without getting their permission first...
Mainframe/UNIX Bit Twiddler and long time Windows/Linux Hobbyist.
The Theorem Theorem: If If, Then Then.
"They're a big company that needs to protect their trademarks. Maybe they're having to look like they're protecting their trademark in case they need to [protect it again] later."
It's just a laser for now, but next month when Lucasfilm sues a company making unlicensed life-size R2D2 statues, their lawyers can claim they've been actively protecting their copyrights and trademarks, which easily cuts off the biggest defenses. It's all part of the game.
You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
While I think this is heavy handed of Lucasfilm Ltd, I looked up the actual product on their website. The pic in TFA is rather close up and doesn't truly show how close this laser resembles a lightsaber. Check out the other pics here: http://www.wickedlasers.com/lasers/Spyder_III_Pro_Arctic_Series-96-37.html
As much as I hate to admit it, it does look way too similar to a lightsaber.
Someone should send a C&D to Lucas for acting like an ass. There was prior art on that a loooong time ago.
Also, sorry about the environment. We screwed that up too.
"Going to war without the French is like going deer hunting without your accordion." ~General Norman Schwarzkopf
George Lucas thinks that bulky, handheld lasers shouldn't be produced because they are his intellectual property.
George Lucas needs to understand that there is a difference between fantasy and reality.
That's like Paramount tell apple to stop making the iPad because it looks like the PADD's on the Star Trek series
Isn't it nice to see Lucas as lawsuit-happy as ever some 33 years after the launch of his massively successful franchise? The amounts of legal disputes, some so petty as to beggar belief, that George Lucas has launched over the decades illustrate more about the man himself than about any significant precedent or legal milestone. Yes he's won lawsuits; but there's a difference between legally sound and ethically sound.
Great White Snark has a short list of five of Lucas's most silly qualms which in the final analysis basically attack inspiration itself. Despite the fact there's a still-debated laundry list of inspiration for Star Wars, much of which he's acknowledged in straight-faced affable fashion in interviews over the years.
I'd have thought by now he'd started to mellow with age, or perhaps devoted more time to helping the world in general like certain other elder-geeks on the globe. Apparently not.
I guess he didn't patent it, probably becuase he didn't have the slightest idea how it could work.
(I am refering to the feature that lets you swordfight with them, and also block incoming laser blasts.
Anyway the most he can claim ownership to is the name.
Say did he ever sue Ronald Reagan over the Star Wars strategic defense initiative?
The product is marketed as a real-life light saber. Now like it or not, they are cashing in on Star-Wars, They people who made it should have asked permission first. I am pro-OSS also, I work at an OSS firm, but I can tell IP theft when I see it.
The motive here seems to be similar to that of the NPB's (National Pork Board) C&D against ThinkGeek. Everything is hunky-dory as long as the public isn't creating a perceived violation of copyright/trademark.
Not knowing much about copyright/trademark laws, is that even a valid case against the manufacturer/retailer? "Oh, we know you're(the manufacturer/retailer) not openly violating our trademark, but the consumer public is connecting your brand to our brand, so we're gonna sue if you don't stop."
Ditch the current handle design and replace it with a proper shark mounting bracket.
Seems like George set himself up into a Minority Report catch-22... if this laser CAN cut him in half, then he dies but wins his point that this laser infringes on his copyright. If it cannot cut him, then he lives but loses his point.
It wasn't that long ago that the lasers from this very same company were featured on the slashdot front page. While the company doesn't make any Star Wars references themselves, the slashdot write-up certainly did.
Here's the Slashdot article "Set Free Your Inner Jedi (Or Pyro)". It was posted June 14 - less than a month ago today. I'm surprised the intrepid Slashdot editors didn't remember running it while writing up this summary.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
for not being a douche when Motorola released the StarTAC.
I call it 'The Aristocrats'
It used to be that Science Fiction authors and movie makers used to -like- the fact that their predictions came true because it showed that they made good predictions... Imagine how much H.G. Wells would be thrilled if someone made a working time machine based on his book, something tells me that he wouldn't send a C&D letter because they "stole" his idea, instead he'd be happy that he could be the inspiration for such a great idea.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
...should send Lucas a cease and desist order to stop selling lightsabre-like merchandise, claiming unlawful use of likeness.
Just sayin'.
Omnes tuae crepidines sunt nobis sunt. Ascendo tuum!
This is a trademark issue with the name "lightsaber". It is not a copyright issue at all.
There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
This looks like something straight from the onion, but it's sadly a real story *sigh*
it's more like lawyers realize they can sound busy and make extra money by thinking that you have to sue anything remotely similar.
Let's just hope Arthur C Clarke's estate doesn't sue everyone silly for geostationary orbits, or all those fancy mobiles are going to be switched off...
They have a bad reputation on their own. They produce the worst lasers known to man and sell them for humongous prices. Really, most of them break after a month or so or are even DOA. Only Dragonlasers comes close to them in terms of bad reputation.
this has NOTHING to do with it being a laser. He claims the shape of the body was built to resemble a light saber handle.
Functioning has nothing to do with it.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Scientists ceased work on developing a time machine that fits inside a car.
"When we first started development, we had our eyes set on a Camaro," said project manager and lead scientist Phuc Mi. "There aren't too many modern cars that still have enough space both under the hood to fit the fusion reactor necessary to generate the 2.19 GW of power needed to feed the fluidic transistor needed to initiate time travel. But, Michael Bay got wind of our project and, well, let's just say we gutted the Camaro and borrowed someone's Mustang instead. But with this second cease-and-desist letter from Steven Spielberg, we can't keep fighting lawyers! We have much better odds predicting where lightning will strike next than beating them in court!"
It falls plumb between trademark and copyright stools, but take a look at the uncropped picture of the laser. Ask 12 good men and true if it's not blindingly (ho ho) obvious that this device has been deliberately designed to look like a lightsaber, and I think you'll get an answer in the affirmative.
Whether that's actionable or not is a more nuanced question, but can we please be honest about the design remit at work here. This is a lightsaber clone, with enough small differences that they can make a fight of it, grabbing more publicity all the way.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
It DOES look a lot like a light saber handle, which is their problem. That being said, the headline suggests that LucasFilm is "threatening legal action if it doesn't change its Pro Arctic Laser series". I'm thinking "change" likely means "pay licensing fees".
Ok right after I invent my time machine, I will go back in time and have an Idea. I will then patent this Idea and establish prior art for all ideas.
Do Not Look Into Laser with Remaining Eye!
(My favorite lab warning sign of all time...)
Galileo: "The Earth revolves around the Sun!"
Score: -1 100% Flamebait
They make lookalikes too.
Actually, with respect to making lightsaber replicas specifically for the public, Park Sabers has been around even longer than Lucasfilm.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Please?
I wont to see the idiot who clearly didn't read the article moderated to hell.
They run around projecting the narcissistic doom and gloom via wild speculation based on a poor interpretation of a headline.
I am not new here by any stretch of the imagination. I have been here long enough to get sick of it, come to terms with it, and then get really sick of it again.ad nausium
FYI: IT's abouit the look of the handle,. not about it being a laser.
"high-powered product he says looks too much like the famous lightsaber from his classic sci-fi series"
AND
"These references make it clear that the public is being led to believe that the Pro Arctic Laser is an official lightsaber device and/or copied from our design," the Lucasfilm letter said.
It's a CNN article people. It's not going to be hard to read.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
The problem is not that George "developed" the concept, the problem is that the Pro Arctic Laser series "looks too much like the famous lightsaber".
Howard the Duck.
And don't try to weasel out by claiming he was "only a producer".
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
People need to stop buying his crap. Don't give him another red cent.
Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
It seem pretty obvious to me that we cannot allow art copyright apply to scientific discoveries.
No one is going to buy one simply because the handle looks similar (and it is a laser). And it is a handle, it is no wonder that it is similar looking to other handles.
Quite a lot of possible future technology has been dreamed up by fiction writers.
For example Star Trek could sue cell phone makers (the first ones even admit to being inspired by Star Trek).
Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
They do look like like lightsabers. I think that they were purposely designed to look like lightsabers. Much of the media coverage of the product used the term "lightsaber". They are a dangerous product. If you owned a company and someone released a product that people were going to confusedly think was released by your company, and that product was starting accidental fires, damaging property, and blinding people, would you maybe try to stop them?
does anyone here think that SW _isnt_ made for kids? Possibly with the added "enjoyable by their parents being dragged along to the movies also" bonus? it's a fairy tale for Christ's sake
How can there be a conflict? A light saber is a fictional device that appears in movies, while a laser is a real world device. So I ask you - how can real objects be forced to comply due to conflict with fiction??? It's just fucking stupid.
On those grounds - Gene Roddenberry's estate should be suing cell phone manufacturers because the look LIKE communicators.
Likewise - Sir Arthur C. Clarke's estate should be suing Apple for the iPad because it resembles the pads used in 2001 (just watch the movie - the form factor and function was in evidence prior to 1969).
In the real world science reality moves towards recreating science fiction in reality and due to usable form factor, convergence can hardly be escaped.
These lasers for example - to contain the components, the batteries and be hand held - how can they avoid looking like a flashlight? And why don't the flashlight manufacturers sue Lucas since they predate the "light saber?"
It ranks up there with Lucas demanding that the Droid change its name, when his word is just a bastardization of the word android whose roots come entirely from Greek meaning "man shaped" (whatever agency granted that trademark should be dismantled due to a terrible affliction of stupid). This overly litigious bullshit needs to come to an end. When It stifles innovation due to fiction and cosmetics - it brings me back to my original point... it's fucking stupid.
If Lucas is claiming the "lightsaber handle" is *his* intellectual property, he's on very shakey ground as the prop in the ORIGINAL STAR WARS was a Graflex handle, a fairly off-the-shelf item in the moviemaking biz.
Similarly the prop control panel for the Death Star's main weapon was a Grass-Valley video switcher. These are not Lucas's intellectual property. They are common items that were used in the movie because the guy was strapped on the budget.
Is Lucas going to sue anyone making a 3-wheeled two-seater with no top, even though *they* used the chassis from a Reliant Robin for the landspeeder? And what about blasters? The guns used in the movie were slightly re-dressed real weapons, he really doesn't have much copyright on existing designs that were around long before the film.
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
What if someone build a real light saber? Would the IP of a non existing object restrict someone from selling a real one?
Having to work for a living is the root of all evil.
In a related story, the copyright holders of the Akira Kurosawa film "Hidden Fortress" have demanded that LucasArts cease all sales of "Star Wars".
Spielberg directed the first 3 Indy Jones movies, that's why they're so good.
"American Graffiti" was a popcorn movie that pandered to Baby Boomers' phony memories of growing up; its only real relevance was contributing to the 1950's craze in the '70s that peaked with "Happy Days" and "Laverne & Shirley". The only reason anyone pays attention to it is that it was directed by Lucas and it has a cast with many people who became famous.
Star Wars (the first one) was a great film on many levels, both in terms of storytelling, establishing a mythic universe that felt real and in breakthrough effects.
But I think "THX-1138" was the only one that really strikes me as a good film that reaches for art and mostly grasps it.
You know, that submarine thing... I smell trillions in damages. Move over RIAA!
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
Here
I don't think they look any more alike than any tube with random ridges would.
It falls plumb between trademark and copyright stools, but take a look at the uncropped picture of the laser. Ask 12 good men and true if it's not blindingly (ho ho) obvious that this device has been deliberately designed to look like a lightsaber, and I think you'll get an answer in the affirmative.
Whether that's actionable or not is a more nuanced question, but can we please be honest about the design remit at work here. This is a lightsaber clone, with enough small differences that they can make a fight of it, grabbing more publicity all the way.
Slashdotted, here's another one... http://www.crunchgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/The-Skin-Melting-Spyder-III-Pro-Arctic-Laser-Is-a-Real-Life-Lightsaber.jpeg
Even if it was specifically meant to look like a "lightsaber" it can be argued that the shape is the most practical for handling and mounting and if there wasn't a beam of fucking light coming out of it it could be mistaken for a dozen other things.
"Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"
they were NOT "floating around in his head", the first three SW movies were ripped nearly line for line out of Norse myth (minus the space travel). Luke, Leia, Aniken, the emperor, Tatooine.... he didn't even bother to change their names. "Skywalker" is a direct translation of their Old Norse surname.
Credit where credit is due... 4, 5 and 6 were Norse. 1, 2 and 3 were what you get when you see what is his original work.
the preceding post was not spell checked... suck it.
I wonder how much HTC and Motorola had to pay Lucas to use the name for their phones (you'd think I was kidding).
Lucas Lightsabre: http://blog.movieset.com/special/own-a-piece-of-film-history
Wicked Laser: http://www.wickedlasers.com/lasers/S3_Spyder_Arctic-96-37.html
If all it takes is a light coming out of a cylinder, then Maglight would have a very good case against Lucas...
Thanks to file sharing, I purchase more CDs
Thanks to the RIAA, I buy them used...
USA postal service considers that body part "non-essential". You get a pittance.
Google it!
The law is a weapon of the government, not a protection for the likes of you. Surely you understand that.
But now I remember how much I hate both Geoge Lucas and getting blinded for life in a millisecond by assholes playing with lasers. Hopefully they will destroy each other!
I know Lucas bashing is fun, and its easier than thinking about what's actually being discussed, but the look of the thing combined with what its designed to do and way its being marketted basically means that Lucas *must* attempt to defend his copyright.
On an unrelated note, these things are dangerous as heck. People are going to blind themselves accidentally or worse. Really ought to be regulated. Definitely not something kids should be allowed to play with. There was a previous slashdot article about this.
you used the term "good lawyer" that's like saying "honest politician" or "military intelligence." You shouldn't use phrases with words that directly contradict themselves.
Lucas is not trying to claim prior art on hand held lasers. It's not a patent dispute and has nothing to do with tech. It's a copyright claim. Lucas is claiming that the HILT DESIGN duplicates a light saber from the movie images.
Sometimes they fool you by walking upright.
doesn't look anything like this one... so which one is he referring to?
http://blog.movieset.com/special/own-a-piece-of-film-history
Thanks to file sharing, I purchase more CDs
Thanks to the RIAA, I buy them used...
A class action suit by people suffering from thyroid tumours was filed today:
Sufferers allege that George Lucas's neck imitates the ailment too closely.
If he had a leg to stand on Park Sabers would be dust by now.
I had a sucky sig.
That's a big stretch for copyright.
Copyright doesn't cover functional parts of objects. A D-battery sized cylinder with a light source at one end predates anything Lucas has done. The exterior detail doesn't match any Lucas product. Lucas doesn't have a design patent, and if he did, it would have expired years ago. Lucas would lose this in court.
The Wicked Lasers device is probably just a prototype, though. They admit they're getting those Nichia NDB7352 1 watt laser diodes by disassembling video projectors. If the product was in production, they'd be buying them in bulk from Nichia.
He should send a letter to Obama for infringing on the Sith Lord
The same sense Han meant when he used the phrase "good blaster".
And in the sense of "does the dirty business for which it was created well", there are most certainly good lawyers, and you want one by your side. Probably in preference to a blaster. After all, a good blaster may be helpful in a firefight, but is typically unwise to use in a courtroom. While a good lawyer is very helpful in a courtroom, and can be used as a shield during a firefight.
The enemies of Democracy are
If we had Flying Cars, Hanna Barbara would be pursuing legal action in order to protect someone from profiting from flying cars that are obviously a ripoff from the Jetsons!
...when are you going to pay Paramount royalties because the star destroyers and Millenium Falcon use FTL? Of course you may wish to sue medical laser manufacturers who use a similar form factor. George, you need to send your lawyers packing to the same deep dark hole that Sun sent their legal team to when they sued the Republic of Java for infringement. Just sayin'.
George Lucas fails the invented physics of his own fictional universe forever!
George, my friend, you need serious help. Go out and seek it. Immediately.
This is a journalist "joke" distortion of a serious issue.
This has nothing to do with Lucas' ego, whatever the slashdot lemmings say.
The thing is the company sells pretty powerful lasers, and THE TOTALITARIAN US wants to prevent people from having them.
For one reason or another they cannot "forbid" the lasers -- therefore the old fart Lucas and the fake 'intellectual property' argument.
Clear as day. Although the great brainwashed just refuses to see the issue for what it is.
Why does Motorola have to license the word 'Droid' from Lucasfilm? If you look its on every Droid commercial. So Lucas owns the word Droid now too?
Good-bye
So back in the '40s Asimov had this idea of little satellites in Earth orbit and then put them in his sci-fi. Does that mean he could have litigated against NASA ?
Sounds loony tunes to me.
Its not the years, its the mileage
Okay, so the complaint is that it "looks like a lightsaber." Okay. What if they bent it somewhere in the middle to fashion a handle? Now it "looks like a blaster."
I think there is no way out of this beyond filing a suit against Lucas' legal team for lawyer bullying or whatever the actual term for that is. The fact is, the shape is somewhat limited and determined by its function. If they want to make it look kinda "futuristic" by adding shapes and textures, that should not infringe on anything that Lucas itself isn't already infringing on... they sure as hell didn't invent the practice.
And here's the real kicker -- it doesn't look like any of the lightsabers I have ever seen beyond it being "round-tube-shaped with energy coming out of one end...or two"
Next we are going to hear from Ferrari... it seems the Ford F-150 shares enough similarities with a Ferrari cars to warrant a C&D against the manufacture and sale of the F-150 trucks. Four wheels, steers with two of them, engine power on two of them, had a generally rectangular arrangement of the wheels... yeah just like a Ferrari.
Until we see the complete C&D letter, there's no knowing.
It could be one of the hilts in the movie series---or, it occurred to me, one of the hilts in the merchandise as well.
Or it could be he's claiming the all hilts have a common design that is being copied. That would be harder to make stick because the hilts were quite different from one another, reflecting the story line that each was the unique design of its wielder.
Sometimes they fool you by walking upright.
Dunno if I'd even give him credit for basically inventing the lightsaber, though. It's been one of those ideas that has floated around for at least one millennium, in one form or another.
E.g., King Arthur's sword Excalibur is said in various legends to be so bright that you can't (or can only with difficulty) look at it, and in at least one it consists or is covered in two jets of bright flame coming from the two chimaera heads on the hilt. It also can slice right through steel.
Other flaming swords or swords made of flame date as far back as Genesis (God placed one at the entrance to Eden after kicking those two buggers out), or one that shines like the sun is supposed to be wielded by Surtr (leader of the Muspelheim fire giants) in the battle of Ragnarok in Norse mythology. In fact Surtr's sword is arguably even more interesting as it isn't described as flaming or made of fire, but as a sword which shines brighter as the sun.
And while not exactly contemporary with the old Norse, there are paintings from _long_ before Lucas which represent Surtr wielding basically a lightsaber. E.g., "The Giant with the Flaming Sword" by John Charles Dollman from 1909.
Or there's the sword Tyrfing, again norse, forged by the dwarves to shine like the sun and cleave through steel or stone like through cloth. (The only catch was that it _had_ to kill someone each time it was drawn, if all else fails, even its wielder.)
And while not necessarily flaming, great heroes carrying awesome swords with supernatural abilities in battle is basically as old as we have a history. The Celts have the likes of Caladbolg which cleaves hills and leaves a rainbow arc when swung (weapon swing arc effects in computer games, anyown?;)), Caesar had the Crocea Mors, etc.
Really, I liked the original trilogy and all, and I'm not trying to minimize Lucas's role on the whole. But crediting lightsabers as his invention, is a bit like crediting Disney with inventing mermaids ;)
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
Lucas did not write or direct episode V, The Empire Strikes Back.
"... directed by Irvin Kershner. The screenplay, based on a story by George Lucas, was written by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Episode_V:_The_Empire_Strikes_Back
Mad at you I am, sue you all I must.
- George Lucas, Master Jedi
Here, let me shoot you in the eye.
thats what I tell you wife! XD
...and Mauser Gmbh. is waiting for some royalties.
After Lucas' infamous hissy fit with the DVD standards committee, he refused to release any of his movies on DVD for a very long time. I got pretty angry at him for that, but I found that there were plenty of other movies out there deserving of my attention. So I went years without watching the Star Wars movies. It turns out that watching those movies regularly altered my perception of those movies. By not watching them for years, the spell lifted and when I finally came back, I was able to (finally) give a more fair evaluation of the original trilogy, and I have to say it didn't age well. At all. Now when I look at it, all I can see is the amazingly bad dialog, occasionally atrocious acting (who puts a hack like Mark Hamil in the same scene with the great Alec Guinness?), and of course plot holes you could drive an imperial star destroyer through.
Lucas has always been a talentless hack. There was never a better time when he made better movies.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand, the laser in question really does resemble the light saber. As much as it pains me to side with Lucas, it seems more than within his rights to argue copyright infringement.
My response is that I don't know how you can resent something that makes you a gajilionaire, but whatever.
Because, have you ever heard the phrase "but what have you done lately?" ? I bet he has been hearing this almost every day for the last 30 years!
PS: The article claims their argument is being made under copyright? Unless a sculpture is 100% the same, then I don't think he has a case. I'm even skeptical that the design of a "light saber" hilt can be protected under copyright anyways. Doesn't that fall under Design Patent?
these lasers are classed as dangerous products and should not be sold in the EU or USA to anyone except scientists for use in lab conditions. They are extremely dangerous, particularly when placed in the hands of daft Star Wars fans. Secondly, Wicked Lasers haven't actually delivered *any* of these to customers yet, and my suspicion is that they never will.
Did George ever getting around to suing Blizzard for including a brightly lit and lightweight sabre in Diablo 2? Just ridiculous if he did not go after those deep pockets. He's had 10 years to sue, so I guess if he has not gotten to it by now it might not happen...
It's plainly obvious that they are making it look exactly like the crud Lucas glued together for his movies, so it's a no-brainer case against them.
But they are in China. Short of the U.N. knocking on their door, there is nothing that can be done as they lack jurisdiction. It's not just a disbelief in copyrights and patents by China in general (which interestingly enough was the SAME position the U.S. took in the 1700 and 1800s against Europe), but that it's nearly impossible to bring any legal action against a company in China anyways unless you are based in China. It is well known that in the legal world that China is a black hole and not worth even sending a letter to the company in question.
The only way I can think of this would be to yank some strings with the government(I wonder how many toys Lucas makes in China...) and hope that they actually care or listen.
Ok, here's the deal. Just looking at the *cropped* shot in the linked article, I couldn't see what the fuss was about. I went to the WickedLaser site, though and saw *this* picture:
http://www.wickedlasers.com/images/products/secondary/297.jpg
, and went "Oh." There's enough similarity there that Lucas might have to worry about losing the ability to protect his designs if he doesn't do anything. The thing looks like a lightsaber hilt. It doesn't look exactly like any specific lightsaber hilt from the films, but similar enough that there is definitely the possibility of it being considered a derivative work. might be market confusion as to who creates and/or *endorses* said item. I expect that WickedLasers will come out fine on this, but it's certainly not totally unexpected to get this sort of reaction.
I'm sure you've all seen the Android commercials on TV... Ever read the fine print at the bottom? "Droid" is a registered trademark of Lucasfilm Ltd. Verizon and Motorola have been licensing it from Lucasfilm in relation to the Android-based phones.
Sounds like Lucasfilm is getting a little grabby.
First off, this is *not* an attempt at Wars/Trek trolling.
In Trek, you see a lot of objects that became, or highly influenced, what we have today: floppies/flash storage, iPhone (similar to tripod.. interesting name similarity), bluetooth earpieces (Uhura's communicator, as well as chest tap communicator in TNG), grocery store doors, etc. To drive the future is an honor. To hold it back is to steal from the future generations who will benefit from it.
The best thing about a boolean is even if you are wrong, you are only off by a bit.
Regarding IP.
Specifically, The Hidden Fortress
I've lost all my marbles except one & It's fun to test angular & centripetal acceleration in my skull
Willow was directed by Ron Howard, not Lucas. Granted, he was a producer, but it still wasn't totally "his baby".
Lucas is at his best when he's NOT behind the camera calling all the shots. Raiders of the Lost Ark is probably testament Numero Uno to this. And while Empire and Return were great movies, I think we have to recognize that part of the reason that Star Wars was such a phenomenon is that it came along at exactly the right time and gave the country exactly what it needed... an old fashioned fairy tale of good guys vs. bad guys in the gray, dreary post-Vietnam world.
Had Star Wars been released in any other time, it probably wouldn't have become the legend that it did. Had Star Wars been released in 1955 or 1995 (with appropriate levels of special effects for the period), it probably would have been as awkward as releasing Easy Rider in 1985. So to some extent, Lucas has probably profited from a good deal of lucky timing. Is he talented? Clearly. Is he the wunderkind that everyone thought in 1977? I think the test of time says "No".
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
If I had any of my StarWars crapola memorabilia left, I'd burn it for this. But, sadly, I went home from opening night of A Phantom Menace and burned it then.
It was hard to set fire to my original, unopened VHS set of the original versions of the movies, but it had to be done.
What was even harder was watching my original, still-in-the-box Millenium Falcon from 1977 melt and smoke away into a puddle of black ooze.
"That's no laser!"
If I remember correctly, Hong Kong reverted to Chinese control in 1999. Since when has China given two squats about copyright violations? All the lawyers can legally do is try and legislate an import ban.
I always thought the Lightsaber looked too much like a large version of Dr Who's sonic screwdriver. Maybe the BBC should sue Lucasfilms?
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Maybe it was designed to look like Graflex Flash Gun?
his novel 'virconium' (1971) describes a 'energy blade' (baan) in great detail. perhaps you owe aforementioned brit some back-royalties ?
Luke "dam I hate this iSabre 4, every time I hold it in my left hand it turns off"
Steve "you are holding it wrong"
I'd like to see a camera lens maker sue all the makers of licensed lightsabers for making something that looks too much like their lenses.
Like "Hey George - Starwars came out like 20 years ago Dude"... You have made your money, your fading into history and no one gets all excited any more - because Starwars have been re-run on TV like 400 times so far, on every TV station on every continent so far
I mean I am not sure that people even tune into watch it any more.
Stupid Fat Greedy American.
.
Voting up, Voting down - If I really gave a fuck about your approval or not, I'd come and ask you.
Of course it "can" (and will) be argued that blah blah blah, but can we please not say "even if". Of course it was designed to look like a lightsaber. Are we really going to pretend otherwise? This isn't a court, we don't have to be judicial about it.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
How can you prove it was specifically intended to resemble a lightsaber?
"Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"
This is ridiculous....Thanks for supplying protective goggles for the buyer..how about the rest of us who might encounter the idiot geek who is carelessly using this toy around others...
Weren't the original props made from scrounged camera parts? Wait until someone sues George Lucas for misusing and misrepresenting those battery housings.
I Am Not A Lawyer, and You Are Not A Judge. If your parents were closely related before they were married, then I'm sorry for you, but try not to get Retard on the rest of us.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
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Thanks for the admonishment, you're truly a benefit to this community.
"Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"
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-- I was raised on the command line, bitch