George Lucas filed a lawsuit shortly after the release of the first episode of Star Wars against the studio behind the newly launched series Battlestar Galactica. What the reasons were and what consequences it had for the series, you can find out here.
Which series is it about? In 1978, a science fiction series, which is now world-famous, started. Battlestar Galactica, known here at the time as Kampfstern Galactica, was created in the shadow of a far more popular production: Star Wars.
The first part of George Lucas’s space saga had premiered in theaters a year earlier and turned out to be a resounding success. Star Wars was not just another movie with spaceships and aliens, but a true phenomenon that spread far beyond the movie theater. To this day, the series generates headlines and strong reactions from fans.
The film studios certainly saw this as well and probably wished for a similar success as that of 20th Century Fox, the studio that produced Star Wars together with George Lucas.
Battlestar Galactica from Universal could have been such a project. However, shortly after the release of the series in 1978, the first problems arose. It was none other than George Lucas and 20th Century Fox who sued Battlestar Galactica.
Battlestar Galactica was rebooted in 2003. Watch the trailer here:
The series copied Star Wars
What were the reasons for the lawsuit? Battlestar Galactica allegedly violated copyright law. That was the central accusation. Specifically, it was about 34 points in which the series supposedly borrowed from Star Wars.
This involved characters, locations, storylines, and visual designs. For example, the studio argued that the mere fact that a robot (R2D2) assists the protagonists in fighting totalitarian forces was already original Star Wars – and therefore copied.
And various design concepts were also claimed to be very similar to Star Wars. The latter has an interesting reason:
Some members of the effects team from Star Wars left after completing their work and went to Universal – to work on Battlestar Galactica. This group was led by John Dykstra, who was responsible for the visionary effects in Star Wars. Interested parties can learn about the history of this motley crew in the documentary series “Light and Magic” on Disney Plus.
When Dykstra and some others left George Lucas and joined the competition, they likely reused discarded elements from Star Wars. So it’s not surprising that some aspects may remind one of Lucas’s star saga.
Star Wars reveals after 43 years what important role an unassuming character plays.
George Lucas and Fox went to court
How did the dispute turn out? In court, Universal argued that George Lucas himself had frequently borrowed from other works. For example, from the sci-fi series Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon. Star Wars was not particularly original even back then.
Ultimately, Universal won in 1980. The court concluded that this was not a case of plagiarism. However, the matter was not settled. The appeals court reopened the case in 1983. But before it could go to trial, both parties settled outside the courtroom.
A relief for everyone, yet a significant effort for Universal for a series that was not particularly successful at the time. The first series, which ran for two years, was followed by a shorter, watered-down version called Battlestar Galactica 1980. In total, the legal dispute lasted longer than both series combined.
It wasn’t until 2003 that Battlestar Galactica experienced a second wind with a series of the same name. And the next offshoot of the now-popular series is not too far off either.
