Ask any veteran about ‘The Hurt Locker,’ and their nose will probably wrinkle in distaste. Though it won six Oscars, the film is without a doubt one of the only military movies to be universally disliked by the people it portrays.

But for bomb disposal technician Sgt. Jeffrey Sarver, it’s personal.

‘The Hurt Locker’ screenwriter Mark Boal shadowed Sarver’s unit in 2004 during the Iraq War. During that time, Boal observed the unit detect and dispose of IEDs. He wrote about the experience for Playboy Magazine and later adapted it into a movie with director Kathryn Bigelow. The unit Boal shadowed became immortalized as fictional movie characters, and some of their most tense missions were put on display for the entire nation to watch.

Sarver, however, was not pleased with Boal’s portrayal of his personality and work ethic. Shortly before the 2010 Academy Awards, Sarver sued both Boal and Bigelow for defamation. His main complaint was that Boal wrote his fictional self, Sgt. First Class William James played by Jeremy Renner, as ‘obsessed with death.’

Unfortunately for this veteran, the court did not view the film the same way. A judge finally dismissed Sarver’s case on the grounds that it is protected by the First Amendment. When Sarver challenged that dismissal, another court upheld the ruling .

“‘The Hurt Locker’ is speech that is fully protected by the First Amendment, which safeguards the storytellers and artists who take the raw materials of life — including the stories of real individuals, ordinary or extraordinary — and transform them into art, be it articles, books, movies, or plays,” the ruling stated.

The judge also mentioned that he thought William James was “a heroic figure, albeit one struggling with certain internal conflicts.”