DiDA Manchester United footballer is suing a toymaker for making a Nazi doll that looks exactly like him.
Bastian Schweinsteiger plans to sue a Hong Kong-based company for making the German solider figurine in his likeness, but the makers claim any resemblance is merely coincidental, Mashable reports.
AFP/Getty/DiDThe Nazi doll comes in full military uniform, carrying army supplies and – coincidently – is also named Bastian.
Schweinsteiger’s spokesperson told the Daily Mail they were taking legal action against the doll’s manufacturer, and they were doing ‘everything in their power’ to stop the sale of the figurines.
But the manufacturers, Dragon in Dream (DiD), claim the likeness is just an incredible coincidence. DiD representative Patrick Chan told German newspaper Bild: “The figure is based on a typical German. We believe most Germans look like this. Bastian is a common name in Germany.”
Getty/DiDLegal experts say the Germany and Man Utd midfielder has a strong case, with a German media lawyer telling the BBC:
This is a clear violation of Schweinsteiger’s personality rights. Everyone has rights to their own image. To see him as a swastika-bearing Wehrmacht soldier also constitutes a gross defamation and insult.
According to DiD ‘the figure is a member of a Wehrmacht supply unit, a so-called ‘kitchen boy,’ and he comes with a variety of different uniforms for all kinds of fascist doll based fun.
