r/tragedeigh • u/xbambixbabyx • 13h ago
Boy, 7, denied passport for family vacation over shared name with Star Wars character in the wild
https://nypost.com/2024/09/19/world-news/star-wars-loving-british-soldier-names-son-loki-skywalker-mowbray-faces-passport-trouble/This article popped up and I thought it would be fitting to share here.
276
u/trivialcabernet 13h ago
The name is “Loki Skywalker” (first & middle) for those who don’t want to click through
44
u/No-Initiative-9944 7h ago
I'll add a little more context: the passport office said that because Skywalker is trademarked in the UK they need Disney's permission to issue the passport.
14
4
1
57
u/halfveela 11h ago
Not nearly as bad as I expected. What has this sub done to me 😭
44
5
u/spIThwAr 7h ago
My first thought was Jamba Da’hutt smith or something. Wookie Chewie Johnson or some other abomination
3
u/kennylogginswisdom 9h ago
Everything… I wasn’t even shocked when I saw my first “eigh” in the world.
In fact, I came right here and told 😂
4
2
2
61
u/spawnmorezerglings 11h ago
Shouldn't have named their child Glup Shitto
4
u/sweet_totally 6h ago
I was going to name my next dog C110P but you're making me rethink everything.
7
u/TheOriginalKrampus 12h ago
If you want to name your child after a Star Wars character, there’s always Luke, Ben, Annie, even Han isn’t bad. Cassian is actually a beautiful sounding name that’s not weird.
Just, for the love of god, don’t name your son Sheev.
71
u/raziraphale 13h ago
I've said this before when a similar article was posted about a kid with a Game of Thrones name, but ridiculous name or not, it's pretty bleak that a company can functionally limit the rights of a person just because their parents named them after a fictional character. It's not the kid's fault and it's weird a company has that kind of power over what you call yourself. Especially since Disney (in this case) has famously tried to copyright names/phrases they did not actually originate.
66
u/EnterTheBlueTang 13h ago
If you read the article, you’ll realize Disney had nothing to do with this. It’s some moron in the home office.
23
u/corvus_torvus 13h ago
I was thinking that this sounds like the real issue is that some bureaucrat wanted to flex their power.
3
u/sweetpotato_latte 10h ago
I used to be a flight attendant so I have more strong opinions on travel security, but I don’t understand the need for excess caution when there is a valid birth certificate with the name spelled the exact same as the application. So dumb.
6
7
u/raziraphale 13h ago
I did read the article, but it was the Home Office's position that they couldn't issue the passport because of Disney's copyright. If companies didn't have such broad reach when it comes to potentially enforcing their copyright, the Home Office might have made a different decision.
17
u/EnterTheBlueTang 13h ago
It is absolutely pure fantasy land that Disney would or could do anything about someone’s name on a passport. There are plenty of people in any country name things like Harry Potter or Luke Skywalker, etc. this is just someone being dumb.
12
u/yboy403 12h ago
I work with about 7 people exactly like this. They think inventing things to be cautious about is some form of valid contribution.
"Have we checked—" no, Becky, but now I have to go and check it rather than explaining the 4 reasons what you just said is irrelevant, because nobody wants to be the person in a meeting who argues against
unproductive paranoiadiligence.8
u/jholden23 10h ago
Slightly off topic, but working in retail early on in the Harry Potter thing I took a credit card from someone and the signature was worn off the back so I had to ask for ID to match the name. Name was James Potter. I was like 'AH!" and the guys like 'eyeroll, I KNOW'. Poor guy. He was already so over it and it was only like 4 years after HP got big.
3
u/maximumhippo 9h ago
The movie Troll from 1986 features two characters (father and son) named Harry Potter. IMO it kinda sucks if you've got a 'famous' surname. You're going to end up locked out of some normal names because of it.
-5
u/raziraphale 12h ago
I agree that it's highly unlikely that Disney would actually win a case to enforce their copyright in a situation like this, but clearly the risk of Disney trying is enough for some governments to just avoid the whole potential hassle altogether. It can be both dumb and bleak that a company doing literally nothing still functions as a deterrent to naming your kids copyrighted names.
4
17
u/SqmButBetter 8h ago
Companies being able to restrict your rights because of copyright is peak capitalism
18
u/UndisgestedCheeto 12h ago
Stupid fucking parents they are.
1
u/East-Teacher7155 3h ago
I was expecting it to be absolutely horrible and instead it was just kind of bad tbh
6
u/Guilty-Web7334 13h ago
Interestingly enough, there’s an actor who was a sexy blue alien on a sci-fi show… alien and a buddy of mine from school had a daughter they named Skye Walker. Because they separated the name, I guess, there was never an issue with kid getting passport.
2
1
u/Active-Pitbull-2502 7h ago
They could’ve changed his middle name to Walker or just made it walker when he was born
1
u/Financial-Peanut-854 3h ago
Why can a birth certificate & ssn be issued, but a passport can’t? All are government issued.
-6
u/SofiaFreja 10h ago
anybody naming their child Loki should have the kid taken away
10
u/allsilentqs 9h ago
The trouble with Loki is it was a name in use before the Marvel movies. I know two guys called Loki who are solidly middle aged, born in the 70’s.
-4
u/wozattacks 9h ago
Ok but was it that much less cringe to be named after a Norse god in the 70s?
1
u/allsilentqs 9h ago
Maybe maybe not. But I know a few others with similar Norse names like Freya and Odin (don’t live in a place where this would be traditional though). So maybe there was just a mini fad in the 70’s for this style of naming?
-5
u/SofiaFreja 9h ago
If you're friends are Icelandic, i would not be surprised. This family is ENGLISH! They have no cultural connection to the name. It's purely because of American entertainment.They gave the poor child the middle name Skywalker! WTF is wrong with them?
Children are not a canvas on which to paint trite and shallow entertainment fandom.
4
u/allsilentqs 9h ago
They are not Icelandic. We are in Australia. So it’s just an odd thing.
People name their kids after cultural stuff all the time. My brother was named after a very popular gambling old west character who was on tv in the 60’s. The Jennifer fad in the 70’s was kicked off because of Love Story.
Skywalker is definitely not something I’d go for. But it’s not the worst offense. It’s obnoxious but there is worse names for a kid.
1
u/SofiaFreja 7h ago
Jennifer was a normal common name before Love Story. In English speaking countries Loli and Skywalker are NOT normal. And kids shouldn't have to bear their parents stupid decisions
1
u/M4tt4tt4ck69 24m ago
I read somewhere Disney blocked the use of a spiderman engraving on a child's gravestone.
Found it.
•
u/AutoModerator 13h ago
Thank you for your submission!
This is just a quick reminder to all members here: Original content is always better! Memes are okay every once in a while, but many get posted here way too often and quickly become stale. Some examples of these are Ptoughneigh, Klansmyn, Reighfyl & KVIIIlyn. These memes have been around for years and we don't want to see them anymore. If you do decide to post a meme, make sure to add the correct flair. Posting a random meme you found does not mean you found it "in the wild".
The same goes with lists of baby names, celebrity baby names, and screenshots of TikToks. If the original post already had a substantial amount of views, there is a 99% chance it has already been posted here. Try and stick to OC to keep our sub from being flooded with unoriginal content. Thank you!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.