TEHRAN - Lawyers for the estate of Ayatollah Khomeini worked round the clock yesterday in a last-ditch attempt to file the necessary paperwork to protect the Khomeini family’s lucrative copyright on the popular anti-American slur “The Great Satan.” However, a spokesman with the International Copyright Office in Dubuque , Iowa, said it was most likely a case of too little, too late. David Corbett, Senior Copyright Analyst, said the documents needed to preserve exclusive control of “The Great Satan” should have been filed by five o’clock central time last Friday.
“The fellow handling this for Mrs. Khomeini said he was tied up with a series of public stonings, and things just got away from him,” said Corbett. “By this time tomorrow, anyone in the world can chant, write, or sing 'The Great Satan' and they won’t have to pay the Khomeini family a nickel.”
Although the late Ayatollah owned a series of dry cleaners, and once hosted the most popular variety show on Iranian television, he was by no means a wealthy man when he led the revolution that toppled the Shah. “If he hadn’t hit on 'The Great Satan,' and had the sense to protect his intellectual property, he never would have been able to amass the kind of fortune he possessed when he died,” said Corbett.
While the loss of “The Great Satan” will have a serious negative impact on the Khomeini family portfolio, Corbett says all is not lost. “They still have the copyright on 'Have a Nice Day.' That fatuous expression is not due to be renewed until May of 2015."
