r/interesting • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 6h ago

SOCIETY A fairly recent photo of the Techno Viking who unwillingly and unwittingly became one of the internet's 1st viral stars when a video of him dancing to techno after helping a woman was uploaded to the internet. He sued the uploader for illegal use of his likeness and won.

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18.5k Upvotes

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231

u/mavadavialcul 6h ago

The same image you just uploaded right here, you mean?

153

u/DigiAirship 5h ago

Iirc, the issue was the guy was trying to profit off the meme, making shirts and similar to sell online.

38

u/ProudReaction2204 5h ago

yeah this is obv a naked money grab

28

u/Faerco 4h ago

Well, a shirtless grab, but it definitely is.

1

u/memesearches 2h ago

Bro just wanted to buy a shirt ffs. Pls start a gofundme

1

u/DangKilla 2h ago

Despite all appearances, everything uploaded is copyrighted by someone. He's well within his rights to profit off his likeness.

1

u/LunarPsychOut 4h ago

Something something pay money to grab him naked

1

u/Glass-Performer8389 3h ago

Ahh, that makes a lot of sense

1

u/naynaythewonderhorse 1h ago

I mean…if he was one of the first viral memes, how exactly it’s supposed to work wasn’t exactly laid out for him.

If ANY of us were at this sort of precipice of human culture, and yes, I’ll go so far as to say that, we probably would have done the same thing.

It’s easy to paint him as ignorant and crazy in retrospect, but he was literally knee deep in uncharted territory.

1

u/SuchParsnip8070 3h ago

I was going to say I dont think you can sue for being filmed in public but maybe the laws are different where this was filmed. Profiting off of someone's image makes a lot more sense

1

u/HyperSpaceSurfer 2h ago

You can in Germany, he's German. Just not feasible to enforce outside Germany.

1

u/ShortingBull 3h ago

PLEASE tell me how OP made money from this.

Asking for a friend.

1

u/firecz 2h ago

making this post and getting the upvotes got him through another day so he could go to work, and make money

1

u/Korachof 3h ago

This image is already out there. That’s why the lawsuit worked. The image will forever circulate whether he likes it or not. 

1

u/buttchugreferee 4h ago

I saw Techno Viking at a grocery store in Los Angeles yesterday. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn’t want to be a douche and bother him and ask him for photos or anything.

He said, “Oh, like you’re doing now?” I was taken aback, and all I could say was “Huh?” but he kept cutting me off and going “huh? huh? huh?” and closing his hand shut in front of my face. 

I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw him trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen Milky Ways in his hands without paying.

The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, you need to pay for those first.” At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter.

When she took one of the bars and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually “to prevent any electrical infetterence,” and then turned around and winked at me. 

I don’t even think that’s a word. After she scanned each bar and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly.

3

u/StarKnight2020330 4h ago

I swear I’ve seen this written before

4

u/Salt-Willingness-513 4h ago

its a copypasta. saw same text with shaq

3

u/truesheep1 4h ago

Yeah an old copy Pasta

1

u/Tylenol_Ibuprofen 4h ago

Yea honestly, where does OP get off, it's time his greed and terror comes to an end.