Manuel Noriega Sues Activision Over Call of Duty 83
mrspoonsi sends this BBC report:
Manuel Noriega, the former dictator of Panama, is suing Call of Duty's video games publisher. The ex-military ruler is seeking lost profits and damages after a character based on him featured in Activision's 2012 title Black Ops II. The 80-year-old is currently serving a jail sentence in Panama for crimes committed during his time in power, including the murder of critics. One lawyer said this was the latest in a growing trend of such lawsuits. "In the U.S., individuals have what's called the right to publicity, which gives them control over how their person is depicted in commerce including video games," explained Jas Purewal, an interactive entertainment lawyer. "There's also been a very well-known action by a whole series of college athletes against Electronic Arts, and the American band No Doubt took action against Activision over this issue among other cases. "It all focuses upon the American legal ability for an individual to be only depicted with their permission, which in practice means payment of a fee. "But Noriega isn't a US citizen or even a resident. This means that his legal claim becomes questionable, because it's unclear on what legal basis he can actually bring a case against Activision."
Illegal to profit from your crimes. (Score:4, Interesting)
Doesn't that same law apply here?
Re:Illegal to profit from your crimes. (Score:4, Interesting)
Some jurisdictions do have Son of Sam laws [wikipedia.org] that are designed to keep criminals from profiting from their criminal pursuits, but from the Wikipedia entry, it sounds like they may be of questionable constitutionality (and that the court has been willing to throw them out), depending on how they are phrased and enforced.
Re:I hope Noriega wins. (Score:5, Interesting)
It would be amusing if the suit is thrown out under the Son of Sam law... (He wouldn't be a celebrity if not for his crimes).