A lightsaber club sued by LA?

[Master Medwyn]

Is this real?
Just came across this article:
http://epicstream.com/news/Lucasfilm-Sues-Jedi-Club-and-Lightsaber-Academy-Over-Trademark-Infringement

[Racona Nova]

If it is (and I didn't notice any hints that it shouldn't be), then this will be catastrophic to the whole fandom! I don't want to imagine what happens if the courts really agree with Lucasfilm/Disney....

[Landen Se-Sentien]

Better start stockpiling now, before the whole thing gets shut down. 

It should be interesting to see how the details work out, whether or not this is a hoax, etc. I'd be afraid if I was one of the other guys with a certain Sith lord's name in my business name.   

I think the size of the businesses and fandom will cause this to not get so big. I think they're going after one particular group for a specific set of reasons. I'm not too worried.

[Vivectius]

I didn't realize that LucasArts has also trademarked the phrase "May the 4th be will be with you.^tm"

[Majobu5]

I think it's the official wording they used, not so much that it was a saber training class. Like Ultrasabers never uses the term Lightsabers. Don't use Jedi or Sith. All the other companies don't use the names by their true Lucas names. It's the wording

[Obese Wan Kenobese]

When I first found out about all these stunt sabers, I thought it would be against copyrights. However, they don't seem to be trying to make anything like this officially. If there had been official duel worthy replicas, I'd have bought them. I've got a couple ForceFX, but it didn't satisfy, as I can't duel without fear of likely breaking it. I'm glad someone has stepped in to fill the gap. With prices as they are among custom sabers, no one seems to be making these really mainstream. And the official copyrighted sources with Hasbro and Master Replicas aren't trying to make what we want, so it's not really mainstream either. We remain the nerds with lightsaber 'toys' on the edge of mainstream with popularity that Disney wanted to exploit. A class in a big city accidently used common place words and couldn't figure out the jargon needed to skirt the rules. But Disney isn't teaching a class or making dueling sabers. What's the beef here?

And what about these people who are actually treating Jedi as a religion? Are they calling themselves Zhedi and using the flarss? The flarss will be within reach, usually.

These things are basically detailed flashlights with tubes. I'm not apologizing for all the times I swung a flashlight and hummed as a kid. That was each of our childhood idea. Where are my royalties from when they did that in their commercial last year?  Why don't I get rights to my own nostalgia?

[Vivectius]

Like Ultrasabers never uses the term Lightsabers.

Um, go to the main Ultra Sabers site home page.  At the top.  Where it says "THE COMBAT LIGHTSABER SPECIALISTS" (note that I put it in all caps because it's in all caps on the website, not because I'm yelling at Majobu).

Now, Ultra Sabers is also a supplier to Disney for sabers used at the Disney parks, so that might get them some leeway when it comes to what wording they can use and how close to the actual movie prop designs they get in their designs.  But, wisely, even though we can tell what saber they're based on, US never says what sabers their designs are based on.

So yes, wording use is key, but there are a lot of light saber clubs/groups out there.  I'm not sure how this is going to play out in the long term.

[For Tyeth]

And talking of nostalgia, who's gonna take Lucasfilm to court for stealing the design of Ulysses31's glowing space sword and giving it to that rebel Bridger?

(Anyone remember that cartoon?)

[Landen Se-Sentien]

I think this thing has more to do with the group supposedly claiming they'd train you like a Jedi or a Sith than using lightsabers or people dressing up in costumes. If that was the case, entire industries and half the GDP of China would be forced to shutdown.

[Darth Tepes]

As stated it is the wording.  There are clubs out there that don't use the terms Lightsaber or Jedi/Sith that operate without hassle.  From what I have read he was given a chance to avoid all this by simple rewording is adverts.  He decided to ignore that though.

[Majobu5]

Um, go to the main Ultra Sabers site home page.  At the top.  Where it says "THE COMBAT LIGHTSABER SPECIALISTS" (note that I put it in all caps because it's in all caps on the website, not because I'm yelling at Majobu).

Now, Ultra Sabers is also a supplier to Disney for sabers used at the Disney parks, so that might get them some leeway when it comes to what wording they can use and how close to the actual movie prop designs they get in their designs.  But, wisely, even though we can tell what saber they're based on, US never says what sabers their designs are based on.

So yes, wording use is key, but there are a lot of light saber clubs/groups out there.  I'm not sure how this is going to play out in the long term.

Didn't recognize that, but true! Could have leeway if Disney approves of them. Makes sense.

AND DONT YOU EVER YELL AT ME VIV!!!!! 😁

[scifidude79]

The big issues seem to be the uses of the name Lightsaber Academy (with a little TM next to it) and their use of a logo that greatly resembles the Jedi Order emblem.  I don't see where they used the word Jedi on their site, but I only skimmed through it.

By comparison, other companies are not so brazen.  UltraSabers, for example, does not us the word Lightsaber in its official business name, nor do they have a logo that resembles anything LucasFilm owns.  They use the word Lightsaber on their website, but so do hundreds of sites.  Other companies, such as TPLA don't use Lightsaber in their name either.  TPLA stands for Terra Prime Light Armory.  Though, TPLA can also be used for Terra Prime Lightsaber Academy, which is on their website and is the name of their Facebook page.

Either way, this case is troublesome and is one anybody in the Lightsaber biz (in any form) should watch.  While many of US's hilts don't bear close enough resemblance to be actionable, there are a few that are really close.

Though, Disney/LucasFilm could issue a C&D for US to stop using the word Lightsaber, they can't make US stop selling combat sabers that are their own design.  Certainly, hilts like the Initiate, Apprentice, Aeon/Dominix, Sentinel, Standard Issue, Prophecy, Liberator and several others don't bear enough resemblance to any of the hilts used in Star Wars films for them to be able to halt US from making and selling them.  The Graflex, Chosen One and Archon all bear similarities to hilts that were made from found parts, so Lucas never had any copyright or trademark claim to those.  That's why it's perfectly legal to make dead on replicas of Anakin's, Vader's and Ovi-Wan's original trilogy hilts, they were made from parts that were readily available.  So, it's not like US could be totally shut down by a case like this.  They could simply change to calling them just sabers or laser swords.  Even light saber would be OK, because those are two common English words.

[Master Nero Attoru]

The big issues seem to be the uses of the name Lightsaber Academy (with a little TM next to it) and their use of a logo that greatly resembles the Jedi Order emblem.  I don't see where they used the word Jedi on their site, but I only skimmed through it.

By comparison, other companies are not so brazen.  UltraSabers, for example, does not us the word Lightsaber in its official business name, nor do they have a logo that resembles anything LucasFilm owns.  They use the word Lightsaber on their website, but so do hundreds of sites.  Other companies, such as TPLA don't use Lightsaber in their name either.  TPLA stands for Terra Prime Light Armory.  Though, TPLA can also be used for Terra Prime Lightsaber Academy, which is on their website and is the name of their Facebook page.

Either way, this case is troublesome and is one anybody in the Lightsaber biz (in any form) should watch.  While many of US's hilts don't bear close enough resemblance to be actionable, there are a few that are really close.

Though, Disney/LucasFilm could issue a C&D for US to stop using the word Lightsaber, they can't make US stop selling combat sabers that are their own design.  Certainly, hilts like the Initiate, Apprentice, Aeon/Dominix, Sentinel, Standard Issue, Prophecy, Liberator and several others don't bear enough resemblance to any of the hilts used in Star Wars films for them to be able to halt US from making and selling them.  The Graflex, Chosen One and Archon all bear similarities to hilts that were made from found parts, so Lucas never had any copyright or trademark claim to those.  That's why it's perfectly legal to make dead on replicas of Anakin's, Vader's and Ovi-Wan's original trilogy hilts, they were made from parts that were readily available.  So, it's not like US could be totally shut down by a case like this.  They could simply change to calling them just sabers or laser swords.  Even light saber would be OK, because those are two common English words.

Lots of correct statements here.  I can't comment on the effect this is going to have on Ultrasabers, because I don't see the "behind the scenes" stuff they do to keep everything in order.  I'm sure they're smart enough to anticipate whether they will have to make any changes, and do what's necessary to continue production.  I'm not too worried about it!

In regards to the topic itself, again, not a point of concern yet.  This was an issue that culminated over years of events, and a couple Cease and Desist notices from Lucasfilm.  I do, however, recommend that any group avoid the use of copyrighted terms in their titles.  There are many ways to do this without having to resort to silly terms like "laser sword."  Terms like "knight", for instance, are not under their jurisdiction, and still can be made to indicate the association with the Jedi Order.  As the above quote indicates, TPLA actually stands for "Terra Prime Light Armory" - the potential for an issue like this was anticipated, and our use of "lightsaber academy" was dropped to prepare.  We still use it informally, of course, under fair use.

Our own Master Uilos is a longstanding member of the New York Jedi, so we're all hoping that they can avoid the backlash of this issue.  Until we know the results, let's just minimize speculation and judgments if possible.

[Darth Nonymous]

Yes, this is real. We have many friends in NYJ and know the player in this personally. Unfortunately, it looks like LFLs hand was forced when he applied for a trademark for Lightsaber Academy. He also ripped off their logo fairly directly. I agree with Nero in this matter. Not yet the time for panic, but time for house keeping.

[Dauntless Seven]

Thank you Master Nero Attoru and Darth Nonymous for these updates.  We wish everyone involved the best and most fair resolutions and outcomes.  MTFBWY