# Lightsaber kid files lawsuit **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 26, 2003, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-kid-files-lawsuit/191024 "2003-07-26T04:24:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Soup\_du\_jour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Soup\_du\_jour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soup_du_jour)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-kid-files-lawsuit/191024/1 "2003-07-26T04:24:00Z")
Remember that schoolkid who swung a golfclub as a lightsaber while the camera was running, and the video was posted on the internet (complete with goofy sound effects?) As it turns out, he’s [filed a lawsuit](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3095385.stm) against the classmates who put the video online, alleging emotional damages from the unwanted publicity. Interesting, no? ---
**Author:** ![Freiheit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e8c25b/32.png) [@Freiheit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freiheit)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-kid-files-lawsuit/191024/2 "2003-07-26T04:36:45Z")
I sympathize with him, but it’s ridiculous what people sue for. And I don’t think people were being especially mean to him, either. It was kind of people just watching and remembering how dorky they used to be… [These guys](http://www.waxy.org/) even gave him an Ipod plus _twenty-six hundred bucks._ It would have been more, but people withdrew their donations after news of the lawsuit. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-kid-files-lawsuit/191024/3 "2003-07-26T05:02:19Z")
[Here’s the video…](http://www.jedimaster.net/original.htm) I feel sorry for his plight, but after watching you can understand why the video is so popular. It’s just priceless. ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-kid-files-lawsuit/191024/4 "2003-07-26T06:03:25Z")
Are you shitting me? I don’t sympathize with that loser. That’s exactly the kind of 15 minutes that I only _wish_ I had. He’s trying to get a hundred grand out of his classmates because they made him famous? What a pissant. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-kid-files-lawsuit/191024/5 "2003-07-26T06:42:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by White Lightning \* > \*\*Are you shitting me? I don’t sympathize with that loser. That’s exactly the kind of 15 minutes that I only _wish_ I had. He’s trying to get a hundred grand out of his classmates because they made him famous? What a pissant. \*\* Yeah… they embarrassed him with a video meant to have him as the object of ridicule. I doubt he deserves a hundred grand, but with the spectacle that has been made of him he does deserve something. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-kid-files-lawsuit/191024/6 "2003-07-26T06:57:16Z")
Oh man, if I coulda sued some people because of my childhood…! ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-kid-files-lawsuit/191024/7 "2003-07-26T07:17:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by matt\_mcl \* > \*\*Oh man, if I coulda sued some people because of my childhood…! \*\* Just tell me about it. Back when I was a kid, we just settled it out on the playground, rather than bringing in the lawyers. I don’t think I even knew how to get a lawyer. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-kid-files-lawsuit/191024/8 "2003-07-26T07:18:53Z")
You’d think a kid who was willing to do this in front of a camera would have a little more of a sense of humor about himself. I also like the fact that the site says that his last name has not been released, but that when I clicked to view it, Windows Media Player displayed the name of the author- his full name. Oops. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-kid-files-lawsuit/191024/9 "2003-07-26T07:18:53Z")
Not a huge deal, but I may as well post the nitpick – it’s a golf ball retriever he’s wielding. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-kid-files-lawsuit/191024/10 "2003-07-26T10:23:12Z")
I think suing is a bit much, but if he did not do the little “performance” with the idea that it would be distributed on the internet (and we know he did not) then he has a right to be pissed if his classmates stole it and put it online. I would be pretty pissed if any videos I’ve got of myself (which are just me standing in front of Yosemite Falls or talking about throwing pottery) were distributed online without my permission. (Not that anyone would have any desire to do that.) Because that’s just overstepping the bounds, big time. People are entitled to some privacy. Just because this kid filmed himself, it does not mean that the video is “open season” and anyone can get to it and do whatever they want with it. That’s not how it works. ---
**Author:** ![d\_redguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5fc32e/32.png) [@d\_redguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/d_redguy)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-kid-files-lawsuit/191024/11 "2003-07-26T10:48:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astro \* > \*\*[Here’s the video…](http://www.jedimaster.net/original.htm) I feel sorry for his plight, but after watching you can understand why the video is so popular. It’s just priceless. \*\* The original is good… [But the remix is even better.](http://www.jedimaster.net/re-mix.htm) (Talk about being screwed!) God, I love that kid. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Optihut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/edb3f5/32.png) [@Optihut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Optihut)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-kid-files-lawsuit/191024/12 "2003-07-26T10:51:37Z")
I agree that some people are sueing for ridiculous reasons. However, releasing a film of a non-public person is not something that I’d take lightly, so I think it’s a good decision to sue. Not for money, but just to set an example. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-kid-files-lawsuit/191024/13 "2003-07-26T11:47:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mockingbird \* > \*\*Yeah… they embarrassed him with a video meant to have him as the object of ridicule. > > I doubt he deserves a hundred grand, but with the spectacle that has been made of him he does deserve something. \*\* Yea, a swift kick in the ass and a major sense of perspective. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-kid-files-lawsuit/191024/14 "2003-07-26T12:26:50Z")
Really, the problem is not that the video got on the net. It’s that **some** (not all) of the people who saw it decided to get all uppity and laugh **at** him, as if they were better than him or something. Jerkish, certainly, but not something you can sue over. The video in itself is charming, I think; you gotta love his intensity. I think it’s funny, but I don’t think he’s dumb. Well, not in the video, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-kid-files-lawsuit/191024/15 "2003-07-26T12:48:41Z")
I think he’s entitled to sue. His video was allegedly stolen and posted without his permission. What’s his redress if he doesn’t sue? That said, I’m not sure I see $100K damage here. And I would personally love to have a goofy video of me, with the SFX added of real lightsaber noises and laser blasts being deflected. But that’s me. ---
**Author:** ![Elenfair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cc9497/32.png) [@Elenfair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elenfair)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-kid-files-lawsuit/191024/16 "2003-07-26T13:59:30Z")
If only Luke could have sued Darth Vader for the emotional (and physical!) damages suffered in Empire Strikes Back. Imagine the trauma of the dark lord of the galaxy saying he’s your father. And maybe two decades of retroactive child support! I’m surprised there weren’t lawyers lining up at the Rebellion’s door for a chance at that jackpot. ---
**Author:** ![Optihut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/edb3f5/32.png) [@Optihut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Optihut)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-kid-files-lawsuit/191024/17 "2003-07-26T14:18:29Z")
I still think silly Luke should have taken Vader up on his offer “Together we can rule the galaxy as father and son!”. It would have made for a better part 3 than Ewoks defeating Imperial Stormtroopers, imho. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-kid-files-lawsuit/191024/18 "2003-07-26T15:57:31Z")
Well, you know…you make a video like that…doesn’t it occur to you to hide it in a deep dark place? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-kid-files-lawsuit/191024/19 "2003-07-26T16:12:27Z")
It’s fame, but it’s not good fame. People will point and laugh at the kid for years to come. Not with him, but at him. That’s a hard thing for a 15-year-old kid to deal with. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-kid-files-lawsuit/191024/20 "2003-07-26T16:20:04Z")
If that thing was actually a lightsaber, he’d have no hand left. He gripped every part of it. Seems more like he was pretending it was a [bo](http://www.bushido-online.com/kobudo/kobudo008.htm), but I’m no martial artist. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightsaber-kid-files-lawsuit/191024.md?page=2)