Spike Lee Gets An Injunction
Spike Lee won his first little court battle with Spike TV, getting a temporary injunction preventing TNN from changing their name until there can be a real hearing about the matter. It ain't all roses for Lee though, the judge made him post a $500k bond to cover TNN's losses if Lee ends up losing the case.
"Contrary to defendants' position, the court is of the opinion that in the age of mass communication, a celebrity can in fact establish a vested right in the use of only their first name or a surname," the judge wrote. "There are many celebrities that are so recognized, including Cher, Madonna, Sting and Liza."
The difference here is that Spike Lee has never been known as just 'Spike'. Do a Google search for Sting, and you get results for the singer. Google search for Cher, Liza and Madonna turn up the celebs very high and very often in the results. But a search for Spike turns up nothing on the 1st page of results for Spike Lee. Google, does however assume you are looking for a movie director - just not Lee, as it returns the category for Spike Jonze.
He also said the name protection would probably be available if a network proposed a program called the "Cronkite News Hour." But thats different because it pairs the name with a medium that the name was associated with - Cronkite and News go together in a way that Spike and TV don't. Spike is associated with film/movies, not television.
"Contrary to defendants' position, the court is of the opinion that in the age of mass communication, a celebrity can in fact establish a vested right in the use of only their first name or a surname," the judge wrote. "There are many celebrities that are so recognized, including Cher, Madonna, Sting and Liza."
The difference here is that Spike Lee has never been known as just 'Spike'. Do a Google search for Sting, and you get results for the singer. Google search for Cher, Liza and Madonna turn up the celebs very high and very often in the results. But a search for Spike turns up nothing on the 1st page of results for Spike Lee. Google, does however assume you are looking for a movie director - just not Lee, as it returns the category for Spike Jonze.
He also said the name protection would probably be available if a network proposed a program called the "Cronkite News Hour." But thats different because it pairs the name with a medium that the name was associated with - Cronkite and News go together in a way that Spike and TV don't. Spike is associated with film/movies, not television.
# | June 16, 2003