Darth Vader Shards Of The Past Star Wars Fan Film Controversy

2018eventclassic

The Darth Vader Shards Of The Past Star Wars Fan Film Controversy was a January 2019 copyright dispute over a YouTube Vader fan film by creator Star Wars Theory, which Disney and Warner Chappell monetized after claiming its original score sounded too close to John Williams' Imperial March. Fans revolted, called for a boycott of Star Wars: Episode IX, and Lucasfilm intervened to get the claim removed.

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Overview

The Darth Vader Shards Of The Past Star Wars Fan Film Controversy is the copyright fight that erupted in January 2019 between Disney, Warner Chappell Music, and YouTuber Star Wars Theory over an ambitious 16-minute Vader fan film1. The dispute drew unusual attention because the creator, known as Toos, had already secured Lucasfilm's permission to make the film on the condition that he would never monetize it1.

What pulled the story out of ordinary YouTube copyright noise was the reversal: the music companies filed a claim on the film's score, which was original music commissioned from a composer, and then began collecting ad revenue Toos himself had been forbidden to take2. The video's roughly 7 million views turned the copyright email into a headline-grade Star Wars fandom story within days3.

How It Spread

On January 14th, 2019, Star Wars Theory tweeted a screenshot of a YouTube email showing that Walt Disney Music Company and Warner Chappell had claimed the video's music composition, alleging similarity to John Williams' Imperial March3. The tweet passed 730 retweets and 3,400 likes and pushed the story into wider Star Wars circles3. Toos followed with a video explaining that he had hired a composer specifically to write original music inspired by Williams, not lifted from him1.

On January 15th, Redditor YoutubeArchivist posted the dispute video to r/videos, where it drew more than 110,000 views, 86% upvotes, and 3,900 comments in two days3. Twitter users started calling for a boycott of Star Wars: Episode IX and demanded the ads be pulled and an apology issued3. Coverage followed from The Daily Dot1 and Movieweb2.

On January 16th, Toos uploaded "LUCASFILM STEPS IN! ORDERS THEM TO REMOVE CLAIM! JUSTICE!!", explaining that a Lucasfilm representative had contacted Disney and Warner Chappell to get the claim taken down2. The follow-up video pulled more than 620,000 views in 24 hours, and the ads were stripped from Shards of the Past so that, as originally agreed, no one profited from it2.

Frequently Asked Questions

Darth Vader Shards Of The Past Star Wars Fan Film Controversy

2018eventclassic

The Darth Vader Shards Of The Past Star Wars Fan Film Controversy was a January 2019 copyright dispute over a YouTube Vader fan film by creator Star Wars Theory, which Disney and Warner Chappell monetized after claiming its original score sounded too close to John Williams' Imperial March. Fans revolted, called for a boycott of Star Wars: Episode IX, and Lucasfilm intervened to get the claim removed.

copyright controversy memes star wars fandom discourse memes youtube culture memes disney memes

Overview

The Darth Vader Shards Of The Past Star Wars Fan Film Controversy is the copyright fight that erupted in January 2019 between Disney, Warner Chappell Music, and YouTuber Star Wars Theory over an ambitious 16-minute Vader fan film1. The dispute drew unusual attention because the creator, known as Toos, had already secured Lucasfilm's permission to make the film on the condition that he would never monetize it1.

What pulled the story out of ordinary YouTube copyright noise was the reversal: the music companies filed a claim on the film's score, which was original music commissioned from a composer, and then began collecting ad revenue Toos himself had been forbidden to take2. The video's roughly 7 million views turned the copyright email into a headline-grade Star Wars fandom story within days3.

How It Spread

On January 14th, 2019, Star Wars Theory tweeted a screenshot of a YouTube email showing that Walt Disney Music Company and Warner Chappell had claimed the video's music composition, alleging similarity to John Williams' Imperial March3. The tweet passed 730 retweets and 3,400 likes and pushed the story into wider Star Wars circles3. Toos followed with a video explaining that he had hired a composer specifically to write original music inspired by Williams, not lifted from him1.

On January 15th, Redditor YoutubeArchivist posted the dispute video to r/videos, where it drew more than 110,000 views, 86% upvotes, and 3,900 comments in two days3. Twitter users started calling for a boycott of Star Wars: Episode IX and demanded the ads be pulled and an apology issued3. Coverage followed from The Daily Dot1 and Movieweb2.

On January 16th, Toos uploaded "LUCASFILM STEPS IN! ORDERS THEM TO REMOVE CLAIM! JUSTICE!!", explaining that a Lucasfilm representative had contacted Disney and Warner Chappell to get the claim taken down2. The follow-up video pulled more than 620,000 views in 24 hours, and the ads were stripped from Shards of the Past so that, as originally agreed, no one profited from it2.

Frequently Asked Questions