Can Someone Copyright the Story of Star Wars?

The movie Star Wars: A New Hope is already copyrighted, and the novelization of the movie is also copyrighted. As such, no one else can copyright something that is already copyrighted. Even if you write an original story in the Star Wars universe, you cannot copyright it or be sued for doing so.

Which Story?

The collection of stories from Phantom Menace through to Rise of Skywalker isn't entirely new. A New Hope was largely inspired by Flash Gordon, and many scenes were kind-of copied from it.

Another franchise, such as Dune, was 'inspired by' as well—Lucas heavily borrowed scenes and story elements from it.

Renowned films like The Seven Samurai, The Magnificent Seven, Yojimbo, and A Fistful of Dollars have all essentially the same story, tweaked and rebranded into a new IP. This pattern continues with A New Hope.

Copyright and Trademark Law

Copyright law does not protect against an idea; that would be a Patent. Using something that is attached to something that is part of a collection of Copyright is a Trademark. For example, Star Wars is a trademarked logo and font. Darth Vader, Tatooine, and Lightsaber are trademarked character names and item names, respectively.

Anything that heavily resembles a lightsaber, such as a physical hilt that emits an energy-projected blade, falls under Copyright. However, a franchise like Halo, which also depicts an energy sword, does not constitute copyright infringement because the shape, design, and artistic style behind the hilt and the form of the blade are not rebranded as a lightsaber and are not attempting to imitate one.

Detailed Copyright and Trademark Analysis

The story itself is not trademarkable or copyrightable, just the nouns, imagery, and things made to imitate or intentionally claim a likeness. For instance, the movie Space Balls imitated Star Wars and paid for a license to do so. Similarly, George Lucas himself granted permission to Robot Chicken and other shows that wanted to parody Star Wars.

Another example is Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, a movie that parodied the lightsaber and Jedi v. Sith lightsaber battles, featuring Mark Hamil and Carrie Fisher. Permission was granted for these parodies under the principle of 'good faith.'

Trademark and Copyright Law in Grey Areas

While Star Wars is indeed copyrighted and trademarked, the narrative points about an orphan farmboy being recruited by a wizard to join a rebellion to fight against the Empire are not trademarked or copyrighted concepts. As long as you don't use the names like Vader, your enforcer is not dressed in black with a breathing apparatus, and the farmboy isn't accompanied by droids but can be robots, you are not infringing on any intellectual property.

However, copyright law is not as cut and dry as it should be. For instance, France sued toy manufacturer Games Workshop for depicting the fictional fantasy culture called Bretonnia, which is depicted as Medieval France, even with some horrible things in its lore/history. France won the case.

Additionally, in the 1990s, Game Workshop created Warhammer Fantasy Battles as a plagiarized adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and Hobbit IP. This led to significant copyright issues. Despite this, the courts later decreed that Blizzard did not encroach on Games Workshop's copyright because it was based on plagiarized content from Tolkien. Still, Game Workshop retains its copyright to this day, due to internal politics surrounding honoring a copyright and internal biases.

In conclusion, while the specifics of copyright and trademark law can be murky, it's important to understand the nuances before attempting to use any intellectual property. Simply put, you can't copyright a story, but you can protect the specific characters, locations, and elements of a franchise.