UP NEXT: THE BUFFY SUIT
Spike Lee's lawsuit to monopolize his first name continues. The NYT reports:
Viacom yesterday lost its latest legal appeal to carry out its plans to rename its TNN cable network Spike TV. The filmmaker Spike Lee...won an injunction against the name change last week, arguing that Spike TV was an infringement on his name and reputation because viewers would associate the channel with him. The Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court yesterday rejected a motion by Viacom to lift the injunction....
Executives at MTV Networks, the Viacom division that oversees TNN, expressed outrage at the court's decision yesterday, saying that the ruling had already cost the company more than $17 million in wasted promotion and advertising fees. If the channel can never use the name Spike TV, they said, it will cost more than $47 million.