e., that Net discussions of fan fiction encouraged the violation of Lucasfilm’s copyright. In a rare action, the Usenet hierarchy vetoed the plan, not even allowing it to be presented for a formal vote, claiming that it promoted “illegal activities”, i. Such stories often involve rereading the Star Wars saga from the point of view of Darth Vader, the Emperor, the stormtroopers, and the other imperial forces. 4 For a discussion of earlier attempts by Lucasfilm to shut down fan cultural production, see Jenkin (.)ģIn fall 1997, the Usenet discussion group devoted to Star Wars responded to increased traffic sparked by the re-release of the “digitally-enhanced” versions of the original films, creating a separate newsgroup where fans could post and critique original fiction set in the Star Wars universe.Posted on the Web, Troops draws a phenomenal number of hits each day 3. Star Wars producer George Lucas has announced his own enthusiasm for the short. As a result, he is fielding offers, from companies like Dreamworks, to finance his first feature film. Rubio’s film made imaginative and resourceful use of computer graphics work as well as those found in most big budget productions. In a sly wink towards Fargo, one of the stormtroopers speaks with a noticeable Minnesota accent. Troops spoofs Star Wars by offering a Cops-like profile of the stormtroopers who do the day-in, day-out work of policing Tatoone, settling domestic disputes, rounding up space hustlers, and trying to crush the Jedi Knights. 8-9.ĢIn Spring 1998, a two page color-spread in Entertainment Weekly profiled aspiring digital filmmaker Kevin Rubio, whose 10 minute, $ 1,200 film, Troops, has attracted the interests of Hollywood insiders 2. 2 Wolk (Josh), “Troop Dreams”, Entertainment Weekly, March 20 1998, p.

Jenkins textual poachers