Mark Hamill Teaming Up With California Lawmakers To Fight Fake Autographs

With Star Wars: The Force Awakens reigniting fans' hearts like a lightsaber, some stars are [...]

Mark-Hamill-Autograph

With Star Wars: The Force Awakens reigniting fans' hearts like a lightsaber, some stars are putting an end to fraudulent signatures and making sure fans get the real deal for their money.

Mark Hamill, who briefly returns as Luke Skywalker in the newest installment of the franchise, is teaming up with a California lawmaker on trying to end fake autographs. It started before The Force Awakens even hit theaters when Hamill noticed a surge of posters from the movie being signed by him. Problem was, probably due to his role being kept a secret, Hamill had yet to really sign anything.

"As a joke at the London premiere, I said I'd only initial posters to reflect my contributions to the movie. And even then, I only did like three of those," Hamill told the Los Angeles Times in an interview.

When fans started seeing more and more autographs, they asked Hamill personally, via Twitter, to verify.

That action caught the attention of California Assemblywoman Ling Ling Chang who was already hard at work on a bill that would make it harder for counterfeit memorabilia to hit tourist shops.

The bill, AB 1570, would require certificates of authenticity (CoA) for signed memorabilia sold by dealers in California, as well as entitle consumers who were ripped off to as much as ten times the cost of the forged item in civil court.

Interestingly enough though, California state law already offers these procedures for sports-related items.

The actor admits that the bill is the first step in a long way to go.

"In a way, it seems futile to try and counter what is clearly a very lucrative market," Hamill said. "But we can't let them get away with it."

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