The Dictator Suing Over Call of Duty Is Bringing Rudy Giuliani Back to Court

In a story of dictators vs. canonical mayors that would make for a really dry video game, the former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, is returning to the courtroom on behalf of Call of Duty: Black Ops II.

When it came to light a few weeks ago that Giuliani's law firm was defending Call of Duty creator Activision's motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the imprisoned former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, I was pretty excited. When he announced in a conference call that he was a big fan of historical fiction and that made this lawsuit all the more personal for him, I was amused. Now that I know Giuliani will appear before the Los Angeles Superior Court on October 16, I'm pricing flights to LA.

Noriega's lawsuit alleges that Activision made money by using the deposed dictator's image without permission in Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Activision had motioned to dismiss this lawsuit under California's anti-SLAAP law. As the California Anti-SLAAP Project website explains, "California's anti-SLAPP statute provides for a special motion to strike a complaint where the complaint arises from activity exercising the rights of petition and free speech."

Noriega's team filed a response to Activision's motion to dismiss, and Activision filed its response to that response, and now it looks like the dismissal—but not yet the case itself—is headed to court. Giuliani said on the conference call that he wasn't sure if he would be the one to represent Activision in the actual courtroom, but now the game-maker is saying that he will.

Giuliani and Activision maintain that the minor inclusion of a Noriega character in the game is protected free speech, along the lines of parodies of public figures that show up in parody form on Saturday Night Live, in dramatic roles as in the case of JFK or Zero Dark Thirty—a movie which Giuliani also spoke highly of—and historical fiction books.

"If successful, this case would obliterate the entire genre of historical fiction," Giuliani warned via press release. "I couldn't be more excited at the prospect of being back in court to defend the makers of Call of Duty against this convicted murderer who wants to make a mockery of the US legal system and attack our right to free speech."

I couldn't be more excited either, Rudy. This is some weird, wild stuff.