Now as far as i'm aware a designer owns the rights to their designs unless under contract which as far as we've been told till now no contract existed for AA's work on the helmets other than bill of sales etc.He then cast around for a designer to create them and the job fell to Ainsworth
Lawyers for Lucasfilm will argue that there was an implied contract to produce the uniforms, which were in any case based on artwork which it provided
The first 50 helmets I sold to him for £35 [$69.50] each
I hope AA gets smoked like a kipper
What? did he come round and kill your cat?
This is going to potentially ruin the guy, £10 Million should they decide for LFL will wipe him out and then some. i wouldnt wish that on anyone.
It just seems to me that LFL should work out a fair licensing deal with AA and let the fans decide who to buy from.... :confused
AAs woes are his own so please dont act like he's a victim. He's shown a pattern of dishonesty and false info and he had a chance to abck down from the LFL legal juggernaut but he decided to take them on.
No sympathy...if he gets ruined its due to his own hubris.
He was issued a C&D as far as I know. He ignored it. The guy is a recaster and a liar. The trooper experts here will point to many differences between his helmets from "original" molds and actual original helmets. No one is denying he was the vac former, but that may have been as far as his contribution actually went. He is trying to claim they are his sculpts, among other things.I didnt say he was innocent, i'm not backing him or fighting in his corner. As a customer i felt completey ripped off at the time and phoned him up and told him so. I also understand he has put himself in this position but i think to wish him to be 'smoked like a kipper' is a bit harsh. A firm C and D and all molds handed over should suffice, not a total wipe out of a mans life.
There are many people in this community that actually applaud his 'gumption' even if they dont agree with his method or like his products and i'm guessing there are a fair few people actually pleased with the stuff they got from him.
I'm sure the sly old dog has something up his sleeve though.
we shall have to wait and see if his kipper does indeed get smoked
Now as far as i'm aware a designer owns the rights to their designs unless under contract which as far as we've been told till now no contract existed for AA's work on the helmets other than bill of sales etc.
I work as an industrial designer and I can tell you that a designer doesn't own anything that he works on ever.
Every job where I've worked full time I've had to sign a confidentiality agreement. When I worked freelance once I got paid for the work it was no longer mine and now the companies property.
Okay then, should we also kowtow to the Gaffers who worked on ANH? How about the Best Boy?I wish him good luck, i spoke breifly to him at a con a while ago, seemed a nice guy,regardless of whatever marketing claims he's made, he is the guy who put the helmets as we know them together, how much or how little input he had in the sculpt and or moulds we just don't know, but to me, he has a lot more credit due to him, than some on here and elsewere have given him.
I'll tell you one thing, I think we're all learning just how incredibly complex and tricky legal cases can be and why they take so darn long to even get through something like this let alone SCO vs IBM vs Novell or Microsoft vs Apple type cases!!