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And that’s basically it!
Khaleesi, 6, a passport was denied — with officials telling her she needed Warner Brothers’ approval because it owns the name’s trademark.
Typical capitalist brain rot.
Shouldn't they also use the same bullshit excuse when issuing an ID card? At least make the dumb rules consistent.
By this logic, everyone named Mickey should be paying Disney a royalty...
Wait shit retract delete delete DISNEY I DID JOT SAY ANYTHING DONT GET ANY FUCKING IDEAS NOW.
Mickey is a real name, though. It wasn't invented by Disney.
Not that their lawyers would care lmao
Aren't they aware that the TV series is based on a book series..? If anyone owns the name it'd be George R.R. Martin...
The Passport Office reportedly later called Lucy to apologize for the error.
They screwed up, and have admitted they screwed up. Did nobody read the article?
The idiocy of naming your kid Khaleesi aside, the UK just decided that a corporation can own your name and prevent you from enjoying the rights of your citizenship.
That's pretty fucked.
Edit - Apparently they did backtrack. But it's still amazing that anyone even thought that was a thing.
Khaleesi is a nice name aside from the fact that I think it's a title...
Khaleesi is a title, not a name. In the fictional world of "Game of Thrones," it means "queen" in the Dothraki language and is given to the wife of a Khal, the leader of a Dothraki tribe. The character Daenerys Targaryen is often referred to as Khaleesi. - chat gpt
Ya... It's a title.
I've had students named Happy, Classic, Diamonds, Epiphany, Scorpio, you name it. I wouldn't even cock my head to the side with a Khaleesi on my roll sheet at this point.
The idiocy of naming your kid Khaleesi aside
It's nice sounding as a name though, I wouldn't be in a rush to condemn someone for it. Now when it's the 5th "unique" spelling of Madison that starts to get a little ridiculous.
The Passport Office reportedly later called Lucy to apologize for the error.
No, they can't. That's not how copyright works. Read the damn article.
It seems that there is only two restrictions in the UK on naming a child at birth. That is that it must fit on a single line on the birth certificate and not contain numeric characters except things like ii to refer to the second.
If you want to change your name later in life there is a lot of restrictions but as far as I know copyright enforcement is still not one. You can find a list here if you are interested.
The kid doesn't deserve this, but she doesn't deserve that name either.
Second of Her Name, Rightful Queen of the Bratz Dolls, The Breaker of Bedtimes...
I'm pretty sure we're going to keep hearing about people with Game of Thrones names a lot over the next few decades lol I know I've read a few articles saying that Arya and Khaleesi were the most popular girls names for a few years before the series ended
At least Arya is a name; Khaleesi is a title
So is Christ, and therefore Christine and Christopher. Or Rex. Or Duke... Or Earl... Or Lady... Or Baron.
Bishop.
Pope.
Smith.
I'm sure there are more.
Don't care. Gonna name my firstborn Right Honourable
"Major Major had been born too late and too mediocre. Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them. With Major Major it had been all three. Even among men lacking all distinction he inevitably stood out as a man lacking more distinction than all the rest, and people who met him were always impressed by how unimpressive he was."
Arya is a normal name though. Khaleesi was specifically made up title for GoT.
Why the f is a passport office concerned with a trademark. It is a name of a child.. it does not infringe.
People with the last name "Ford" in shambles
So, they passport office is concerned that WB won't approve? ffs.
Right? Like did she have to ask WB for permission to name her kid Khaleesi? Of course not! It's a kid's name not a spin off series lol
But does that mean I can name my kid Walt Disney Company?
... try it out and let us know
Sure… Walter is a regular first name, and there’s lots of people with the last name Disney. It’s from “de Ysini”, and lots of people lived and live in the Ysini region. Company is from the French compagnie, from Latin companio, where we also get companion.
So “Walter of Ysini, Friend” AKA “Walt Disney Company” is a perfectly legitimate name.
As is Michael Mouse.
The Passport Office reportedly later called Lucy to apologize for the error. While officials said they’d now be able to process little Khaleesi’s passport, Lucy said she believes the problem was only solved because she complained on social media.
Sounds like the passport office didn't understand how trademark works.
Doubt the "whole office" was even involved. More likely it was one incompetent employee. We've all been there. It depends on who answers your call as to what answer you get.
“I never thought you could trademark a name,” she added.
I hope my son Marvel's The Amazing Spider-Man is not going to get in trouble.
This is their fault for not checking the username db first. Should've tried xXx_khaleesi_xXx instead
As the article states this is bullshit and who knows what the person who denied her passport was thinking.
I've met someone whose legal name was Pepsi and she was able to get regular government documents without contacting PepsiCo.
It's unfortunate this mom had to go to a lawyer for this crap.
the initial application to get her daughter, Khaleesi, 6, a passport was denied — with officials telling her she needed Warner Brothers’ approval because it owns the name’s trademark.
This is a lot dumber than I thought. Yes, Khaleesi is a stupid name but it is their official name on government papers. They're seriously telling her "your daughter can't use her legal name without permission from Warner Brothers"?
I don't understand why the Passport Office would have even looked.
The name Wendy didn't exist until the book Peterpan. Every part of language is made up, even the names.
What's wrong with passport offices? Here in the states I tried to get my passport in my teen years. I filled all the paperwork paid for it and everything when it came time to get the passport they were just like"you don't exist your social security number isn't real" and that's b******* since my mom had been literally filing taxes with that number as a dependent my entire life. The passport office said tough s*** fax me all your ID information maybe we can do something. So I literally hooked up a fax machine in 2014 and sent everything off but still nothing.
Tl;Dr US passport office told me I'm not a person and took my money anyway.
A. Call your Congress critter. Part of their job is tracking stuff like this down.
B. Go check with SSA immediately. That can be a big problem later.
In case anyone else wanted to save a click, daughters name is Khaleesi and it was denied because “Warner brothers trademark”
The people involved with this bullshit should be sacked. Typical power-tripping idiots.
People in this thread frothing at the mouth because it's a title, not a name, must have forgotten about Caesar. And that it doesn't matter - people call their kids all kinds of weird shit.
I'm just glad the parents named her that before the last season of GOT released.
Otherwise it would be even more concerning.
This doesn't make any sense. UPS has trademarked the colour brown, yet I've known people with the last name Brown who have been able to get passports.
You named your daughter after a tv/book character famous for getting naked, railed, being a bit nuts, and losing a war? I guess she OG owned some dragons for a while. Destined to be bad ass destroy all mega lizards before season 8 destroyed an entire series.