Imprisoned Terrorist, Carlos The Jackal, Claims Intellectual Property Over Documentary About His Life

from the good-luck-with-that dept

Fri, Jan 29th 2010 9:09am — Mike Masnick

In the past, we've seen various attempts by people to claim they had some sort of intellectual property right over a TV show or movie about them, but those claims rarely get very far. We've also seen people in prison with too much time on their hands suddenly claim IP rights over their name or likeness. Now, it appears that convicted terrorist Carlos the Jackal (Ilich Ramírez Sanchez) has decided that his life is his own and no one else can report on it without his approval. CitMediaLaw alerts us to the news that Carlos' wife/attorney has sued the production company of a documentary about Carlos' life. She is demanding that the master copy be given to them as soon as it is done, and that she and her husband get to review all the content and demand changes. It seems unlikely that this gets very far, but it's yet another symptom of our age when people begin to think that pretty much everything can be "owned" via intellectual property.

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Filed Under: carlos the jackal, documentary, intellectual property, terrorism

15 Comments

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Mike C. (profile), 29 Jan 2010 @ 8:16am

Is anyone honestly surprised...
... at the direction things are taking?

With more and more major media claiming ownership over ideas, it was no great leap to see that drop all the way to the "root source" of each idea.

In this case, the "root" is "Carlos". Next up, his parents will claim copyright because they "created" him...

/kidding, but you know someone somewhere will try it someday
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Anonymous Coward, 29 Jan 2010 @ 9:29am

and his grandparents will sue the parents
and maybe the relatives deserve some cause they helped a few times looking after him when young or taught him something

then you have all the people he worked with
you get the idea

like i said it self destruction going this route
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The Gullible Mike, 29 Jan 2010 @ 9:31am

Wait a minute! I thought that infringing copyright was the action that supported terrorism. Now a terrorist is supporting himself by alleging copyright infringement? My mind can't handle all this!
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RD, 29 Jan 2010 @ 9:34am

Look out!
"Wait a minute! I thought that infringing copyright was the action that supported terrorism. Now a terrorist is supporting himself by alleging copyright infringement? My mind can't handle all this!"

Yes, its a recursive loop that will destroy the fabric of reality.
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angal2, 29 Jan 2010 @ 9:56am

Fiction?
Wasn't Carlos the Jackal the name of the bad guy in the Bourne Identity novels?
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DH's love child, 29 Jan 2010 @ 10:15am

Re: Fiction?
Yes, but it was (fictitiously) the real Carlos.
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David (profile), 29 Jan 2010 @ 10:32am

A demand they might want to consider
Seriously, despite the shaky legal footing on demanding they have an inherent veto/approval right over the documentary, who'd say no to the wife of a hitman, such as Carlos the Jackal?

Personally, I'd be terrified...the producers may, of course, have security of some kind. @.@
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IshmaelDS (profile), 29 Jan 2010 @ 10:56am

What about "publicity rights" or is that only used if your famous for good things?
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Robert Ring (profile), 29 Jan 2010 @ 11:28am

Honestly, if I was living out my days in jail, I'd probably do something similar (though I'd probably go sillier with it), just to give me something to do.
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Lawrence D'Oliveiro, 29 Jan 2010 @ 12:05pm

This Is Not The Age Of Aquarius, It’s The Age Of Entitlement
That is all.
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Anonymous Coward, 29 Jan 2010 @ 12:23pm

Style over Substance
This man may be an early example of how one can be famous despite being unsuccessful. The bulk of his attempted assassinations failed. His legend lives on primarily because he was associated with more successful people, and because he has an admittedly cool handle (given to him by the press AFTER he was captured.)

Carlos wouldn't rate a Twitter today.
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jezsik (profile), 29 Jan 2010 @ 4:30pm

So? Let them have it and see what happens.
She wants the master copy? Fine. In a digital world, there are no "master" copies. They want to review the content and demand changes. Sure, but those demands must be recorded to video. Of course the producers don't HAVE to make the changes, right? The clips (or even transcripts) of their demands will certainly make things interesting (and possible drive up sales).
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porster, 30 Jan 2010 @ 9:51pm

And the others inthe story...
It's not one persons story, we have victims, police, Forensic techs, etc.
Make sure they all have their say....
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bob, 2 Feb 2010 @ 8:34am

Ain't this the guy
They caught when he went to get fat sucked out of his ass?

Ha ha ha ha ha.
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Raynold Paranoor Ittoop, 10 May 2010 @ 1:38am

Carlos
This is the story of the incarnation of Devil. Carlos The JACKAL. Ilich Ramírez Sanchez CAUGHT AND KEPT IN JAIL IS NOT THE ORIGINAL JACKAL.THAT MAN CAUGHT NOW IS ONLY A FAN OF CARLOS THE JACKAL.
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