As far as entertainment goes, the adventures of Technoviking crams a whole lot of value into four minutes. The video, captured at the techno festival Fuckparade almost 13 years ago, has rightly taken its place in the storied annals of the internet. As you’re probably aware by now, the YouTube marvel follows its protagonist as he confronts a fellow reveller, takes a swig from a water bottle delivered by a minion and starts his unmistakeable stomp down the street, trailed by fellow ravers. With more than 16 million views of the original YouTube video, and countless spin-offs, the Technoviking travelled far and wide.
Right now in a Berlin courtroom, though, the Technoviking himself is taking on the video’s creator, Matthias Fritsch, for “infringement of personality rights”. The case has been reported on Kevin Morris in The Daily Dot, with a detailed rundown of what’s unfolding. “I am being accused for creation and publication of images connected to the Technoviking, therefore infringement of personality rights,” Fritsch told The Daily Dot. “They also say I am earning a lot of money by that. They argue that gave him the name Technoviking, create 3D characters, comics and more to constantly increase the popularity in order to market Technoviking and therefore cause damage to the protagonist.”
If the case doesn’t go Fritsch’s way, he’ll be required to remove any original content that features the Technoviking’s likeness, including “all kind of user created content like comics, drawings, 3D characters etc.” The punishment for not complying could result in a €250,000 fine and jail time. “I can’t say how far his intentions go for removing content that is posted by other people,” Fritsch said in in The Daily Dot article. “It would be a Don Quixote action to try removing Technoviking from the Web.” ....