Call of Duty’s portrayal of former Panama dictator Manuel Noriega is justified under the First Amendment, according to Activision legal point Rudy Giuliani.
In a post-hearing press conference last week, Giuliani said he is “morally outraged” that “a man like Noriega is seeking to inhibit our creative rights in the United States”.
“If creative rights have to be sacrificed, they shouldn’t be sacrificed for someone like Noriega, nor should anyone have to send millions of dollars down to a Panamanian jail because this madman is making absurd claims,” he said, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“I think a man that engaged in selling $200 million of cocaine in the United States, who knows how many children he killed, a man who was a dictator of his country in which he tortured people for nine years, a man who laundered money in France, a man who chopped the head off of one of his allies and then was convicted in three countries, who is sitting in jail in Panama, trying to recover because he is a minor, minor figure in a very excellent game, Call of Duty by Activision, is an outrage.”
Giuliani said the case differs from those like No Doubt vs Activision because Noriega is an historical figure, not a celebrity. The lawyer warned a judgment in Noriega’s favour could have severe consequences for other media such as novels and movies.
“If Noriega were to succeed in this case, as I told the judge, Bin Laden’s heirs would be able to sue for Zero Dark Thirty,” he said.
“Noriega is a part of history. As a part of history, he doesn’t own his own history any more than I do mine or President Bush owns his.”
