Why watching the best version of Star Wars is actually illegal

In order for fan edits or “derivative works” of any kind to be legal without purchasing the copyright, the original work has to lose its copyright protection and fall into the public domain. That’s how we end up with so many versions of stories like The Wizard of Oz and Frankenstein. According to Vox in 2015, copyright law in the United States keeps expanding and extending so that it would be virtually impossible for something like Star Wars to ever be public domain. In fact, also according to Vox, a proposed trade agreement (that since 2015 is still not in effect) would have restricted copyrights even further. For content creators, this is generally a good thing, but there’s always a catch. Fitting, isn’t it, that the optimum Star Wars experience is being blocked by trade negotiations? Where’s Padme when you need her? 

There are plenty of reasons to grumble about the Special Editions. There are different songs, different actors, a different morality-defining moment for Han Solo. Chief among the things to miss, however, are the original, ground-breaking, Academy Award-winning practical effects that made Star Wars capture the imaginations of audiences back in the ’70s and ’80s. The original cuts are a piece of film history that have been “lost” on purpose thanks to Lucas, himself. This may be what the auteur wanted, but it’s not just his work up there on the screen. The work put in by the original editors and digital effects artists has been erased by the newer versions. 

For now, apologies to your Skywalker Saga marathon, but the Despecialized Edition of Star Wars is illegal … just like torrenting is illegal, selling fanfiction is illegal, and rebelling against/resisting an evil Empire is illegal.  The “Ultimate Introductory Guide to Harmy’s Star Wars Trilogy Despecialized Editions” claims that, if you can prove you own copies of the source material, you’re all set, legally, but take that with a grain of salt if you want to be safe and keep hoping that one day an official restoration of Star Wars (that’s the OG title – “A New Hope” is a 1981 addition), The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi will get that sweet Blu-ray treatment. 

Written by: Looper