Costa Mesa-based band Supernova is taking on the Motley Crue drummer, reality TV God Mark Burnett and the CBS network over the band on Rock Star Supernova performing under just the name Supernova:
Rock band seeks to stop CBS and Mark Burnett's new band from performing under the name SupernovaRequest for Preliminary Injunction FiledSan Diego, CA., (August 11, 2006) – Supernova – an Orange County, California rock and roll band that contributed its song “Chewbacca” to the cult movie “Clerks” – has filed for a preliminary injunction to halt the band being formed on the CBS television series “Rock Star Supernova” from performing or recording under the name “Supernova” alone. The request for the preliminary injunction follows a lawsuit Supernova filed on June 27, 2006 in United States District Court alleging trademark infringement against CBS Broadcasting, Mark Burnett Productions, performer Tommy Lee, and others.
Supernova claims that the parties intend illegally to use the (existing) band's name and trademark “Supernova”. The band Supernova contacted Burnett immediately after learning about the proposed name for the TV show and has been in negotiations since before the June lawsuit was filed.
According to John Mizhir, Jr. an attorney with the law firm of Fish N Richardson that represents the band Supernova, ” “Our client has taken legal action in order to preserve its rights to the name the band has worked so long and hard to establish. We tried to settle the matter quickly and fairly but after lengthy negotiations with CBS, Mark Burnett Productions and others, they left us with no options but to seek the preliminary injunction.”
A hearing on the matter is sought within 28 days. Rock Star: Supernova is scheduled to air through September 27.
Founded in 1989 in Costa Mesa, California, plaintiff Supernova is made up of Jodey Lawrence, Art Mitchell, and David Collins. The band has released three full-length albums and has toured the United States extensively, participating in the Vans Warped Tour in 1995 and again in 1999.
“Rock Star: Supernova” is a TV show about a rock and roll band that will be made up of Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted, and former Guns n' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke. The show's premise is the formation of a band to be called “Supernova,” with fifteen vocalists competing for the role of lead singer. The show is being produced by reality television impresario Mark Burnett.
Mizhir, Anthony Fletcher and Greg Krakau, all with the national law firm of Fish N Richardson P.C., are representing the band Supernova in the legal action.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.