The weekly newsletter for Fed2 by ibgames

EARTHDATE: July 18, 2010

Official News page 6


REAL LIFE NEWS: GEORGE LUCAS ATTACKS LIGHTSABRE COMPANY

by Hazed

A few weeks ago, I told you about a company selling a laser toy that looked very much like a Star Wars lightsabre.

Now there's news that George Lucas thinks it looks a bit too much like a lightsabre, because his company Lucas Film has set the lawyers onto Wicked Lasers, the manufacturers of the toy. They've sent a "cease and desist" letter to the makers of the Spyder III Pro Artic, saying: "It is apparent from the design... that it was intended to resemble the hilts of our lightsabre swords, which are protected by copyright."

Wicked Lasers are standing firm, refusing to give in to the dark side of the legal system, saying that the laser is not in breach of Lucasfilm's copyright. "Most people feel it's kind of ridiculous. We would never use any comparison like that to Star Wars or a lightsabre or anything like that," said the company's CEO Steve Liu. He said it was the press who came up with that angle. I bet the company was delighted by the resultant publicity, though!

Meanwhile, Wicked Lasers has belatedly realized that their laser is a bit too dangerous to be considered a toy, so now comes with a pair of safety goggles. Buyers are also obliged to agree to a "Class 4 Laser Hazard Acknowledgement Form", whatever that is.


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