This week marks 18 years since The Red Hot Chili Peppers sued Showtime over the title of David Duchovny’s dramedy series, Californication.
On Nov. 19, 2007, it was reported that the Los Angeles-based band had filed a lawsuit against the television network for the use of the term “Californication.” This was the name of their hit 1999 album, as well as the chart-topping title track.
The Hollywood Reporter was one of the first outlets to share the legal news. In their report, they included a statement from Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis. “Californication is the signature CD, video, and song of the band’s career. For some TV show to come along and steal our identity is not right,” he said.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers believed their fans would be deceived into believing they were connected to the series
A press release also quoted the complaint as stating that use of the “Californication” name by Showtime “continues to cause a likelihood of confusion, mistake, and deception as to source, sponsorship, affiliation, and/or connection in the minds of the public.”
In response, Showtime argued that the band did not create the term “Californication.” They noted that the term appeared in a Time magazine article in 1972, titled “The Great Wild Californicated West.” It was also used by the Rheostatics on a song called “California Dreamline”. In the 1992 tune, the band sings “Californication, spooning in the dry sand.”
Additionally, Californication series producer Tom Kapinos stated that he was inspired by the term when reading it on a bumper sticker in the 70s, which read: “Don’t Californicate Oregon.”
Showtime filed a trademark application for “Californication” in 2007
Kim Walker, head of intellectual property at Pinsent Masons, stated that the band did not (but should have) registered “Californication” as a trademark. The only application for the term was filed in April 2007 in the United States by Showtime.
“Successful songs, albums, and movies can become brands in themselves,” Walker stated. “What’s really surprising is how few songs and albums are properly protected. The Chili Peppers could almost certainly have registered a trademark for ‘Californication’, notwithstanding Time’s article. They made the word famous, but it doesn’t automatically follow that they can stop its use in a TV show.”
The RHCP V. Showtime case was eventually settled out of court
“If they had registered the title as a trademark covering entertainment services, I very much doubt we’d have seen a lawsuit,” Walker added. “The TV show would have been called something else. As it is, the band faces an uphill struggle.”
In 2011, TheWrap reported that the lawsuit was settled out of court.
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