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Disney legal battle over use of Peter Cushing’s CGI likeness in ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ to go to trial, judge rules

Cushing played imperial commander Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope in 1977.

Cushing, who played imperial commander Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope in 1977, died in 1994 but the character was recreated in the 2016 spin-off through special effects. It began legal action against Lunak Heavy Industries and Lucasfilm, which produced the original Star Wars films, in 2019, claiming they received “unjust enrichment” from using Cushing’s image in Rogue One without its permission. Lucasfilm and Lunak Heavy Industries oppose the claim, with the court previously told that they did not believe permission to recreate Cushing’s image was required under the terms of his contract for A New Hope.

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