The Satanic Temple Sues Netflix Over Statue in 'Chilling Adventures of Sabrina'
Netflix's "The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" may be fiction, but the series has made the streaming service the subject of a very real lawsuit.
The Satanic Temple, known as TST, has served both Netflix and "Sabrina" producers Warner Bros. with a suit alleging copyright infringement over the use of a statue of the satanic deity Baphomet. The suit says that TST commissioned its $100,000 statue of Baphomet sometime between 2013 and 2014, and made several modifications to the deity that made it a design specific to TST -- and therefore, the suit argues, subject to copyright.
TST co-founder and spokesperson Lucien Greaves pointed out the similarities between the two statues on Twitter late last month, sharing a photo of the TST version of Baphomet and the one used on "Sabrina."
"Sabrina" has featured the Baphomet statue in at least four of its 10 episodes, where it sits as a focal point of The Academy of Unseen Arts, attended by Sabrina (Kiernan Shipka). TST's suit claims that "... the Sabrina Series indicates, impliedly and expressly, that the TST Baphomet with Children is a symbol of evil, associated with forced-devil worship, cannibalism, and murder," which "tarnishes" both the statue itself, as well as TST as a whole.
In addition to $50 million in damages for the copyright claim, the suit is also asking that Netflix and Warner Bros. cease production and distribution of "Sabrina," so long as the Baphomet statue remains. Warner Bros. had no comment on the suit.
[via: Variety]