November 19, 2007
King's outburst generates $2m-worth of ringtones
When the Spanish king Juan Carlos turned to Hugo Chavez and said to him, a touch irritably, "Por qué no te callas!" /"Why don't you shut up?"), little did he know that his breach of diplomatic protocol would become a smash hit across the country, or that those five famous words would become a multi-million euro business, selling ringtones, mugs, T-shirts and websites. The Guardian reports.
According to David Bravo, a lawyer specialising in IT law and intellectual property, "the use of the sentence 'why don't you shut up?' in ringtones ... is a violation of his image rights".
An estimated 500,000 people have already downloaded the ringtone, generating around €1.5m (£1m or $2.2m), but many companies have circumvented any potential problems over rights by using an actor's voice instead of the king's.
Over 700 videos have appeared on YouTube, with parodies ranging from a Benny Hill sketch to a Nike advert featuring the Brazilian star Ronaldinho, which ends: "Juan do it. Just shut up."
Related:
-- King Juan Carlos losing his temper a big hit on YouTube
-- King Juan Carlos "Por qué no te callas!" ringtone
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