# Darth Vader Shards Of The Past Star Wars Fan Film Controversy
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.
## 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 film[1]. 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 it[1].
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 take[2]. The video's roughly 7 million views turned the copyright email into a headline-grade Star Wars fandom story within days[3].
## 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 March[3]. The tweet passed 730 retweets and 3,400 likes and pushed the story into wider Star Wars circles[3]. Toos followed with a video explaining that he had hired a composer specifically to write original music inspired by Williams, not lifted from him[1].
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 days[3]. Twitter users started calling for a boycott of Star Wars: Episode IX and demanded the ads be pulled and an apology issued[3]. Coverage followed from The Daily Dot[1] and Movieweb[2].
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 down[2]. 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 it[2].
## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Darth Vader Shards Of The Past Star Wars Fan Film Controversy?
It is the January 2019 copyright dispute in which Disney and Warner Chappell Music claimed the score of YouTuber Star Wars Theory's Darth Vader fan film "Shards of the Past" and began collecting ad revenue on it[1].
### Where did Darth Vader Shards Of The Past Star Wars Fan Film Controversy come from?
It started when Star Wars Theory tweeted a copyright email from YouTube on January 14th, 2019 about a fan film he had released on December 21st, 2018 with Lucasfilm's non-monetized permission[3].
### What does Darth Vader Shards Of The Past Star Wars Fan Film Controversy mean?
The name refers to the copyright fight over Star Wars Theory's fan film "Vader Episode 1: Shards of the Past," whose original music was flagged as too close to John Williams' Imperial March[2].
### How do you use Darth Vader Shards Of The Past Star Wars Fan Film Controversy?
Fans cite the incident as a shorthand example of Disney copyright overreach on YouTube fan works, especially when discussing automated Content ID claims on original scores inspired by existing themes[1].
### Is Darth Vader Shards Of The Past Star Wars Fan Film Controversy still popular?
The dispute itself was resolved within days of January 16th, 2019 when Lucasfilm had the claim pulled, but it is still referenced in Star Wars fandom debates about Disney's handling of fan creators[2].
## References
1. [https://www.dailydot.com/upstream/star-wars-theory-youtube-copyright-claim-disney/]()
2. [https://movieweb.com/star-wars-boycott-lucasfilm-returns-darth-vader-fan-film/]()
3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/darth-vader-shards-of-the-past-star-wars-fan-film-controversy]()
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