Seiler v. Lucasfilm
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
808 F.2d 1316 (1986)
Lee Seiler (plaintiff) claimed Lucasfilm's (defendant) Imperial Walker vehicles in The Empire Strikes Back infringed his own earlier 'Garthian Strider' creature designs, which he registered for copyright in 1981 by depositing 'reconstructions' of drawings he claimed to have originally created in 1976-77; Lucasfilm argued Seiler had no evidence predating the film's release, and the district court, after an evidentiary hearing, found Seiler had lost or destroyed the original drawings in bad faith, excluded the reconstructions under the best evidence rule, and granted Lucasfilm summary judgment. Seiler appealed.
Whether 'reconstructions' of drawings at issue in a copyright infringement case may be submitted in lieu of the original drawings.