Star Wars star Mark Hamill has joined forces with a California Assemblywoman in order to offer protections to movie fans who pay money for signed collectibles in the state of California that prove to be forgeries or fakes, extending the protections that already apply to sporting merchandise.
The actor, who has been responding to fans’ queries about the authenticity of his alleged signature on everything from posters to collectors’ cards, has teamed up with politician Ling Ling Chang to bring about state laws that will severely punish anyone who profits from forging the signatures of Hollywood stars to trick entertainment fans.
@HamillHimself I saw this signed poster at a local auction w the whole cast (so I'm suspicious). Is that yours? pic.twitter.com/utYU0CnI9s
— Tyler Davis (@tylerjamesdavis) December 27, 2015
In a word- NO. I'm so sorry there's so many fans spending their hard-earned money for fraudulent signatures. #FAKE https://t.co/717Bv02ASA
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) December 27, 2015
@HamillHimself a couple of my favorites! are they real? pic.twitter.com/2bHPCp5TQ7
— jay♡sarah (@hqnsols) December 28, 2015
Both REAL. Maybe I'll just "like" the real ones rather than boring everyone w/ endless tweets over authenticity, OK? https://t.co/lstgojuJVq
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) December 28, 2015
“The public is being swindled on a daily basis and the numbers are huge. I just can’t keep quiet when I see people I love being hurt,” the Star Wars actor, 64, told the LA Times on Saturday.
The prospective bill, sponsored by the Republican Assemblywoman, would require any signed or official memorabilia from the entertainment industry to come with a certificate of authenticity when sold by a dealer. Furthermore, any consumers who purchased falsified products would be entitled to as much as 10 times the price they paid for it in civil court. These entitlements are already extended to anyone purchasing sports memorabilia in the state of California.
In the past, Hamill has tried a number of different things to try and combat the forgery of his signature, from signing only with his initials, changing the entire style of his handwriting, and signing everything he can in order to flood the market and devalue anything with his name to it.
“But it’s a drop in the ocean, there’s not much you can do about it,” the actor said.
Statistics on how lucrative the fake autograph industry is are not widely investigated, though the LA Times reports that FBI figures in 2000 estimated the scam was worth as much as $900m annually. In 1999, an FBI investigation uncovered a massive forgery ring in San Diego, which led to the seizure of millions of dollars worth of memorabilia, including the apparent signatures of George Washington, Marilyn Monroe, and John F Kennedy, as well as a baseball alleged signed by Mother Theresa.
