UK HOME OFFICE DENIES BOY’S SKYWALKER NAME PASSPORT BECAUSE COPYRIGHT?
People name their kids all sorts of things that some find amusing, appalling, silly, or downright stupid. But I’ve never heard of anyone having an issue with a kid’s name because of a perceived copyright infringement. But that’s exactly what happened to a boy (not named Sue) in England. The poor dear is only 7, and what happened may have just ruined his own self of named identity. His name is Loki Skywalker Mowbray, and he’s just 7 years old. His family had planned a vacation out of country and needed to get the child his first passport. But they ran into a bit of a problem when the UK Home Office denied the passport application. Why? Because copyright infringement.
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SINCE WHEN DO WE HAVE TO HAVE COPYRIGHT PERMISSIONS FOR OUR OWN NAMES?
So in other words, someone at the UK Home Office was more concerned with the supposed rights to the Star Wars franchise than it was to the basic rights of a citizen, and a minor at that. If I recall correctly, people have the right to choose whatever legal name they want in most Western countries, if not all. And if we’re going to quibble about this, and we are, then it’s worth noting that this family didn’t even name their son Anakin or Luke. Instead, Loki seems to be just fine. But the God of mischief just may have been involved in the obtuse bureaucratic thinking in this Skywalker passport rejections.
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FAMILY HAD TO CANCEL VACATION PLANS, BUT SKYWALKER PASSPORT WAS ONLY DELAYED?
So what happened? The family couldn’t get the passport in time and had to cancel their vacation plans to the Dominican Republic. And no, so far there hasn’t been any kind of explanation of any kind whatsoever. But it’s worth noting this interesting tidbit, which is that once media heard about this and started inquiries with the UK Home Office, suddenly things changed. But that wasn’t obvious until the Mowbray family got an email from the Office telling them their Loki Skywalker Mowbray passport would be issued.
But it was just delayed, don’t you know.