Spike Lee stops Viacom naming TV station Spike TV
Oh no! Whatever shall we do?
Film director Spike Lee won a victory against media conglomerate Viacom Inc Thursday when an appeals court upheld an injunction preventing the company from renaming its TNN cable network "Spike TV."
The five appellate judges of the State Supreme Court ruled that Viacom could appeal again in September.
Lee, the 46-year-old director of such films as "Malcolm X," "25th Hour" and "Do the Right Thing," won a temporary injunction last week barring the name change. He said he feared he would be erroneously associated with the network.
Viacom wanted to change the name of the cable outlet to coincide with a programming shift, and TNN's lawyer has said that confusion and disruption of promotional efforts caused by the injunction has cost the network millions of dollars.
The network, which now airs reruns of programs like "Star Trek," "Baywatch" and "Miami Vice," plans to feature racy animated series such as "Stripperella," featuring the voice of Pamela Anderson, and "The Ren & Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon."
"This case is far from over ... and we still expect to be vindicated ultimately," TNN spokesman Robert Pini said in a statement.
Citing free-speech issues and lost revenues associated with the decision, Pini said his company would appeal the ruling. "We firmly believe that we have an absolute right to use the common word 'spike' to name our network," he said.
He added that TNN was proceeding with plans to transform itself into "the first network for men," including the premiere of its new cartoon block on June 26.
Pini said the word "spike" was chosen by network executives who thought it conveyed an image both male and irreverent.
"It's basically about how that word is used in a lot of male terminology in terms of sports and in financial markets and things of that sort," he said. "Our idea was the word 'spike' is an active word. To us, it's a verb, not a noun."
Lee's lawyer, Johnnie Cochran, has argued that the network's planned name change would cause the filmmaker irreparable injury by associating "an acclaimed artist's name" with the "demeaning, vapid and quasi-pornographic content of 'Spike TV"'.
06/19/03 19:04 ET
[take the test] - [by krystaljungle.com]
Film director Spike Lee won a victory against media conglomerate Viacom Inc Thursday when an appeals court upheld an injunction preventing the company from renaming its TNN cable network "Spike TV."
The five appellate judges of the State Supreme Court ruled that Viacom could appeal again in September.
Lee, the 46-year-old director of such films as "Malcolm X," "25th Hour" and "Do the Right Thing," won a temporary injunction last week barring the name change. He said he feared he would be erroneously associated with the network.
Viacom wanted to change the name of the cable outlet to coincide with a programming shift, and TNN's lawyer has said that confusion and disruption of promotional efforts caused by the injunction has cost the network millions of dollars.
The network, which now airs reruns of programs like "Star Trek," "Baywatch" and "Miami Vice," plans to feature racy animated series such as "Stripperella," featuring the voice of Pamela Anderson, and "The Ren & Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon."
"This case is far from over ... and we still expect to be vindicated ultimately," TNN spokesman Robert Pini said in a statement.
Citing free-speech issues and lost revenues associated with the decision, Pini said his company would appeal the ruling. "We firmly believe that we have an absolute right to use the common word 'spike' to name our network," he said.
He added that TNN was proceeding with plans to transform itself into "the first network for men," including the premiere of its new cartoon block on June 26.
Pini said the word "spike" was chosen by network executives who thought it conveyed an image both male and irreverent.
"It's basically about how that word is used in a lot of male terminology in terms of sports and in financial markets and things of that sort," he said. "Our idea was the word 'spike' is an active word. To us, it's a verb, not a noun."
Lee's lawyer, Johnnie Cochran, has argued that the network's planned name change would cause the filmmaker irreparable injury by associating "an acclaimed artist's name" with the "demeaning, vapid and quasi-pornographic content of 'Spike TV"'.
06/19/03 19:04 ET
[take the test] - [by krystaljungle.com]