this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2024
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[–] then_three_more@lemmy.world 157 points 2 months ago (1 children)

He says his son was eventually issued the passport and the family’s vacation is still on.

Sounds to me like someone so the passport office was just being an idiot and when their supervisor looked into it it was resolved.

[–] Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works 120 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

Government employee makes mistake, other employee corrects mistake, innocent family suffers minor inconvenience. Stay tuned for more.

[–] kamenlady@lemmy.world 25 points 2 months ago

Omg, i hope they are all ok. This must have been so traumatizing for all involved. I can't even

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[–] jpreston2005@lemmy.world 64 points 2 months ago (5 children)

Private corporations tying the hands of governments with copyright BS? If I want to name my daughter Khaleesi Skywalker Gandalf Bethooven SpaceJam that's none of the governments nor some random corporations business. You can't trademark a fucking name, wtf is this bullshit? You don't get to decide what my name is, and you definitely don't get to hamstring official government agencies in their duties because you're butthurt about my sharing a name with your fictional character. Go fuck yourselves, disney. You slimy litigious fucks, this is why your brand is sinking.

[–] yesman@lemmy.world 32 points 2 months ago (1 children)

This isn't a rule. Some bureaucrat was mistaken.

The same thing happened to another girl a couple weeks ago.

[–] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 10 points 2 months ago (1 children)

But it is indicitive of the Anglo-Saxon propensity for bootlicking. /Celtposting

[–] WldFyre@lemm.ee 12 points 2 months ago (5 children)

The French do their arguably dumber "you can't call that thing you made what I call it even though it's the same recipe, because it wasn't grown where my ancient relatives made it," though. Also France's general xenophobia and owning a bona fide colony way later than the Anglos lol

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[–] AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works 20 points 2 months ago

Yeah, Disney is slimy, but for once this isn't their doing. Some paper pusher overstepped their boundaries, that's not on Disney.

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[–] Nuke_the_whales@lemmy.world 61 points 2 months ago (4 children)

Loki Skywalker. Jesus, these parents need a smack

[–] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 19 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Naming children after the mythical figures of a culture is perfectly acceptable.

[–] Zahille7@lemmy.world 12 points 2 months ago (1 children)

True and fair, but what do you think when you hear that someone's name is Loki (who isn't from a Scandinavian country)?

[–] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 11 points 2 months ago

"At least they know Thor was, deliberately, a dick"

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[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 59 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Well my kid Coca-Cola Disney Unilever Squid is fucked.

[–] SARGE@startrek.website 10 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Come on, Flying.... You knew that the minute you named them Coca-Cola Disney Unilever.

I mean can you just imagine the teasing we would have heard on the playground with "cola"? Everyone knows colas are the lowest soft drink.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 17 points 2 months ago (3 children)

That's why they go by Unilever.

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[–] General_Effort@lemmy.world 48 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Something as short as "Skywalker" can't be copyrighted. You don't need permission to use a trademark as long as you don't harm the brand or confuse the customer. Since trademarks are often family names, there are a number of unrelated companies that operate under the same name but in a different business.

[–] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 32 points 2 months ago

Sure, but, also, that it's an existing brand is simply irrelevant to a personal name. You don't need to establish that it doesn't damage the brand, it can even directly damage the brand in fact, it still doesn't matter because people aren't products.

[–] lurch@sh.itjust.works 40 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

Isn't copyright just for commercial use? Is that different in Britain?

[–] rumschlumpel 34 points 2 months ago

He says his son was eventually issued the passport and the family’s vacation is still on.

[–] vzq@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 points 2 months ago

That’s not how copyright works anywhere. Read the Berne convention.

[–] BoxOfFeet@lemmy.world 35 points 2 months ago (4 children)

Man, that's a stupid name. Poor kid permanently tied to a pop culture reference. Two, if the Loki is referring to Marvel. Naming a kid is not an opportunity to express yourself. If you want people to know you like star wars, get a tattoo. Or a bumper sticker. And then I'll judge you. But leave the kid out of it.

[–] brlemworld@lemmy.world 33 points 2 months ago (4 children)

How do you think Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Jacob etc feel named after made up Bible characters?

[–] todd_bonzalez@lemm.ee 14 points 2 months ago

All names are made up.

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[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 19 points 2 months ago (1 children)

If you can find a time machine, the braydens, jaydens, aydens, aidens, alicias, felicias, aleeshas, leEverythings, and every intentionally-misspelled version of a normal name, will be spared a lifetime of "it's like this but spelled like that because my mom sniffed glue" discussions.

[–] Fredselfish@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago

That part really gets me. Why the fuck would you name your kid a name you can't fucking spell. And before paperwork is submitted there should be a law that steps in and stops the naming.

[–] barsoap@lemm.ee 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It's probably a reference to Marvel. In the Germanic tradition you a) don't name kids directly after gods, though gods may make up part of the name, say Thorgeir, Thor's spear, and b) not after Loki. Between fucking a horse (and getting pregnant) and tying a goat to his balls he really should be off limits.

[–] InvertedParallax@lemm.ee 9 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Between fucking a horse (and getting pregnant) and tying a goat to his balls he really should be off limits.

So much for the tolerant left!!!

[–] casmael@lemm.ee 8 points 2 months ago

No no, both balls, not just the left one

[–] todd_bonzalez@lemm.ee 33 points 2 months ago (3 children)

It is incredibly stupid that the Passport office thinks that this is a copyright issue, but the parents logic is also baffling...

“We understand that Loki’s middle name is copyrighted, but we have no intention of using it for personal gain."

So you gave a child a name that they themselves won't be able to use for "personal gain" when they grow up? Acknowledging the inherent limitations of a name like this just sounds like you willfully set your kid up for failure.

Sounds to me like a case of parents treating their child like an accessory. You're not raising a child, you're raising a future adult. Maybe don't give them a legal name that is also a corporate brand name?

[–] Nuke_the_whales@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago

My son happens to have the name of one of my favorite comic book characters. However, it's only one of his names, and also it's a name that's real and normal so nobody would think twice about it. I wouldn't name him such an obvious name that is only tired to the one character

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[–] apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world 17 points 2 months ago (1 children)

TL;DR: he wasn't denied. He was permitted.

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[–] rumschlumpel 16 points 2 months ago

He [the father] says his son was eventually issued the passport and the family’s vacation is still on.

Sounds like that office doesn't know how their own rules work.

[–] wjrii@lemmy.world 13 points 2 months ago

I think this is the second time this has happened in recent months. I am wondering if the UK bureaucracy has some sort of training about not violating trademarks generally, or some sort of software filter to avoid trademarked terms. Regardless, it seems like a fairly petty annoyance that affects a tiny number of people and can be worked around.

Or hell, maybe it's the same clerk and Gareth from Slough is sticking to his guns.

[–] gnomesaiyan@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago (7 children)

Why would you do that to your child? I mean, you wanna change your own name, go for it.

[–] gedaliyah@lemmy.world 14 points 2 months ago (2 children)

People have been choosing made up names from fiction for hundreds (thousands?) of years and as far I know, no one has died from it yet. Jessica is just a character from a play.

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[–] Hydra_Fk@reddthat.com 11 points 2 months ago (2 children)

You are making a lot of assumptions about this childs parents. Starting with they had a concept of a plan to begin with.

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[–] Hikermick@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Nowadays naming your kid is a way to make a statement about yourself. Like a vanity plate.

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[–] rumschlumpel 7 points 2 months ago (4 children)

The only thing that's stupid about this IMO is that Skywalker is supposed to be a last name, not a first/given name.

[–] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 8 points 2 months ago

I'd say if you are appropriating a name from a fictional character for your child (which seems an odd choice, but which I think people should be able to do) it probably doesn't matter much whether you take further creative liberties with it in that way.

[–] JWBananas@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Just like Tiffany and countless other surnames. Things change.

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[–] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 months ago

Last names are often used as first names.

It's his middle name. His first name is Loki.

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[–] JimVanDeventer@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago

Would that not be trademark infringement, if anything?

[–] x4740N@lemm.ee 6 points 2 months ago (4 children)

This is stupid

So if they name a movie character Jane Doe then are they going to stop Jane Doe from getting a passport

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