Peter Cushing, Carrie Fisher and David Prowse in Darth Vader costume in a sequence from the 1977 film Star Wars: A New Hope, PHOTO: LMK / IPA / Profimedia Images
The famous Disney-owned studio Lucasfilm on Thursday won the lawsuit filed in London over the use of the image of an actor who has been dead for more than three decades in one of the new “Star Wars” films, Reuters reports.
Peter Cushing, who died in 1994, was “resurrected” as Grand Moff Tarking, commander of the Death Star, for the Rogue One: A Star Wars Story from 2016, with the help of visual effects and another actor.
He had appeared in the original film Star Wars from 1977, created by George Lucas, which became one of the most successful film franchises of all time.
The films have grossed over $5 billion worldwide since the first title was released in 1977, and spin-off films and series continue to be produced by Lucasfilm and Disney to this day. Inclusive Rogue One had a “spin-off” in the form of the prologue series Andorraconsidered one of Lucasfilm's best for its franchise Star Wars.
The allegations brought against Lucasfilm in the lawsuit filed in London
In 1993, just a year before he died, Cushing had signed a contract with the British company Tyburn Film Productions to appear in a television movie, an agreement that the company's lawyers argued in court gave them “the right to be the first to 'resurrect' Mr. Cushing through visual effects.”
Tyburn Film claimed damages of around £250,000 ($333,725) and sued Lucasfilm and Disney subsidiary Lunak Heavy Industries in London's High Court for alleged “unjust enrichment” at its expense.
Lucasfilm and Lunak have said the lawsuit lacks merit and have tried twice, unsuccessfully, to have it dismissed. But the Court of Appeal in London has now ruled in their favour.
Judge Sue Carr said it was “impossible to identify anything that belonged to Tyburn Film that was transferred” to Lucasfilm or Lunak, meaning the trial could not go ahead.
