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'Star Wars' Empire Strykes Back Over Toy Plane

4/11/2010 4:09 AM PDT BY TMZ STAFF

If it looks like an X-wing and flies like an X-wing ... chances are the "Star Wars" people will find you and sue you faster than you can say "May the Force be with you."

Star Wars

According to a federal lawsuit filed on Thursday, Lucasfilm says a company called EZ2FLY has been making and selling a remote-controlled toy called a RCX4-Star Stryker -- which they allege is a knock-off of the popular X-wing fighter from the "Star Wars" movies.

Furthermore, Lucasfilm claims the company used the "Star Wars" theme and their "Imperial March" music in conjunction with promoting the product.

Lucasfilm is suing for copyright and trademark infringement and is seeking unspecified damages.


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mike thomas    




Best regards,

Mike Thomas

1435 days ago


Firstly, let me concur that this story indeed qualifies as a TMZ "Exclusive". I've ordered 10 000 pressings of "Team EZ2FLY" t-shirts as a show of support for the fledgling company.

This toy is a blatant rip-off. Lucas should also sue himself for releasing the Star Wars prequel trilogy.

1435 days ago

Fuck Celebrities    

I guess lucas hasn't made enough money.

1435 days ago


It's obviously a ripoff, and at first one would think Lucas has more than enough money, but I understand the point that it sets a precedent and he's probably thinking of his kids inheritance.

1435 days ago

Booger McGee    

Actually, the company is obligated to sue - if you see an infraction to your intellectual or trademarked property and DON'T... you risk losing that status. It's also not George sitting around doing it. He has a department whose job it is to keep an eye on things. George is probably sitting around punching a life-sized Jar Jar Binks puppet.

More importantly, who is going to sue Lucas for Jar Jar and the Ewoks, hmmm?

btw - that's totally an x-wing fighter ripoff.

1435 days ago


That truly is a blatant ripoff of George Lucus's property. He should sue for royalties and other damages. In the mean time, where can I get one of those things before it's too late?

1435 days ago


Considering that George Lucas hasn't directed or produced ANYTHING of any quality for the last 15 years must mean he needs to replenish the coffers somehow! George, here's a novel idea...why don't you try to make a decent movie and quit picking on some penny ante toy company! Why don't you make another Indina Jones move...oh that's right you did and it stunk so bad it made my dogs breath smell sweet in comparison.

1435 days ago

Josh Stapleton    

looks like lucas is a little upset that he didn't think of it first.

1435 days ago

Hugh Jass    


1435 days ago

Fidel Sarcastro    

Sure its good to stick up for the little man while thumbing our noses to the giant company, I mean youth is where the rebel spirit lives on forever but lets call this what it is. The product EZ2FLY is trying to sell is obviously heavily inspired by the X-Wing from Star Wars. Inspiration alone isn't enough to get you into trouble but when the design is that close to the mark and it plays music that is also in starwars it shows that they are trying to pass said product off as a StarWars product. That is a no-no. True Lucas LTD has an iron tight hold on their intellectual property and there are some cases that they should work with people in order to let their Star Wars content to be created for profit (those people behind Pink 5 sure deserve some profits outta that series) but to go and do what EZ2FLY did, well then they deserve to have the jedi pimp hand layed upon them.

1435 days ago


Ahhhh, who cares who made what??!!!

1435 days ago


I think that the real rip-off is the fact that they wanted $400 for that thing.

1434 days ago


It actually looks like a cool product except for the MSRP. Why they tried to blantantly rip off Star Wars is stupid.

Lucasfilm went after Battlestar Galactica back in the 80's for their Viper design and it looked less X-Wing than this thing.

1434 days ago


That was awesome! Probably one of the more interesting reads in awhile.

1434 days ago


Small variations can make a big difference legally. Remember the McDonald's characters with Mayor McCheese and the Hamburgler? Some believed it was a rip-off of the characters in the children's program H. R. Pufnstuf. It wasn't.

Of course, McDonald's Corporation had a huge legal staff advising the advertising department on how to craft characters that were original, even if inspired by some other work. They don't pour tens of millions into ad campaigns unless they own the characters outright, a fact which of course made C3P0 & R2D2 more popular than Princess Leah.

Some things that look identical are the proportion of the rockets to the wing width and the angles that the X wings emanate from the fuselage. The placement of the engines relative to the wings also looks very similar.

1434 days ago
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