It sounds like pure cinema, a wigged and gowned London judge stared down from the bench onto a Stormtrooper in London on Tuesday.

Well, he stared down onto a Stormtrooper costume and nine masks anyway, as the breach of copyright case between Star Wars' George Lucas and props designer Andrew Ainsworth got underway.

Ainsworth is charged with breach of copyright because he sells replicas of the Star Wars characters from his London studio but he argues that copyright has expired and, anyway, it belongs to him, and not to George Lucas.

Lucas and his associates have already won a $20 million claim against Ainsworth.

I think Ainsworth should beware of the dark side.

Reuters