George Lucas suing Star Wars designer

Washington, Apr 08 : American film director, producer and screenwriter George Lucas is suing a British designer who created the costumes for his Star Wars films.

Andrew Ainsworth, who was the designer for the storm-trooper helmets, was paid 70 dollars for each of the 50 helmets made for the 1977 film. He has pointed out that he owns the merchandising rights and that he is entitled to a multi-million dollar pay off.

Ainsworth had sold copies of the outfit for 3,600 dollars each in 2004, however he was stopped by Lucas, who claimed that he owns the copyright of the outfits.

But Ainsworth has hit back claiming the copyright has expired because the uniforms were industrial design, not art.

The U.S. court case is expected to last 10 days.

ANI