George Lucas, ruthless ardent defender of his intellectual so-called property rights, is about to launch a redesigned website providing hundreds of Star Wars™ video clips along with the software to create mashups.

"Star Wars" fans can connect with the Force in ways they've only imagined beginning May 25, when StarWars.com launches a completely redesigned website that empowers fans to "mash-up" their homemade videos with hundreds of scenes from "Star Wars" movies; watch hundreds of fan-made "Star Wars" videos; and interact with "Star Wars" enthusiasts from around the world like never before.

With an innovative, interactive site that allows users to navigate to multiple "Star Wars" worlds, a new video focus, and groundbreaking "Web 2.0" features -- including a unique online multi-media mixing platform from Eyespot -- the new StarWars.com will unveil its redesigned website on May 25 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the "Star Wars" Saga.

Among the most compelling features of the newly redesigned StarWars.com is the incorporation of an online video-editing tool provided by Eyespot. It allows users to add their own video shots to more than 250 scenes and music taken from all six "Star Wars" films and create their own "Star Wars" movies to share with others.

For more of this story, click here. According the Wall Street Journal this morning, the fan-created videos will run along with commercials "with Lucasfilm and Eyespot splitting the proceeds." Asked about why Lucasfilm will allow this use of their images, a spokesman said, "If someone wants to commercialize it, that's where we've drawn the line." So it's OK for Lucasfilm to commercialize the creative efforts of Star Wars ™fans, but not the other way around.

But the laugh is really going to be on Lucasfilm because, as we all know, people won't invest scarce time producing creative works that others want to watch without the financial incentives provided by intellectual "property" rights granted for "limited times" (i.e. in perpetuity). So it is safe to predict that no one will contribute any mashups to the new Starwars.com website. Boy, will that be embarrassing for them!

PS: Don't Google™ "Starwars mashup" unless you want to see a bunch of amateurish uses of Star Wars™ clips, like this one, that are taking food out of the mouth of George Lucas, depriving him of the opportunity to commercially exploit his own us of Star Wars™ clips as mashups, and preventing him from raising the funds that are needed to make a watchable entertaining feature-length Star Wars™ film: