One sure sign of success in Hollywood is when the lawsuits come rolling out and it appears that The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is a success. But the lawsuit the show is facing isn’t from some screenwriter who has the idea first or an actor fired without cause. No, this lawsuit is about a piece of set dressing.
Variety is reporting that The Satanic Temple is suing Warner Brothers and Netflix for copying their statue of Baphomet for use for statues representing the demon deity in their show. They say the studios are violating their copyright for the intent of not only causing a “Satanic Panic” by portraying worshipers of Baphomet as evil but also piggy backing on the notoriety that The Satanic Temple’s Baphomet statue has generated.
The Satanic Temple has made news across America by challenging state and local government buildings that Christian iconography such as a tableau of the Ten Commandments to also erect a statue of Baphomet of their design. The design, seen above, show the goat-headed occult icon being gazed up at longingly by two young children.
The statue of Baphomet appears sporadically in the series, as seen above, where the representation is remarkably similar to the design of The Satanic Temple’s version. The Satanic Temple claims it has copyrighted their statue with the Library of Congress and is suing for $50 million in damages.
The matter at hand here is the TV show including the statues of the two children in their version, which is a unique design element to The Satanic Temple’s interpretation of Baphomet. If they left the children off the sculpture, then a lawsuit most likely would have been avoided, as both statues feature an interpretation of Baphomet that has been around for over 150 years.
Odds are the suit will never make it to court, but if it does, it will be interesting to see how the battle plays out. The full complaint can be read here.
