Satanic Temple Is Suing Netflix and Warner Bros. for $150 Million Over 'Chilling Adventures of Sabrina'

The Satanic Temple is making good on their threats from earlier this year when they claimed they [...]

By Patrick Cavanaugh

The Satanic Temple is making good on their threats from earlier this year when they claimed they would take legal action against Netflix for using a statue they created in The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. The organization is seeking $150 million in the suit.

In documents obtained by The Blast, the Temple claims the "Defendants misappropriated the TST Baphomet Children in ways implying that the monument stands for evil. Among other morally repugnant actions, the Sabrina Series' evil antagonists engage in cannibalism and forced-worship of a patriarchal deity."

Lucien Greaves, co-founder and spokesperson for The Satanic Temple, originally stated that he believed the statue was recreated for the series using CGI, hoping that the visual effects could be tweaked to remove the statue or alter its design. They are now suing for copyright infringement, trademark violation, and injury to business reputation, with each claim bringing with it a $50 million price tag.

The statue created by the organization's likeness was modeled after a specific 19th-century illustration of Baphomet, though The Satanic Temple noted that this specific statue features unique elements, both in design and composition, that they are claiming copyright over and point out that the Netflix series also uses.

"It's deeply problematic to us," Greaves shared with SFGATE. "(But) even if that wasn't the case we'd be obligated to make a copyright claim because that's how copyright works."

The organization unveiled the nine-foot-tall statue in Detroit in 2015, which was intended to be displayed across from a statue of the Ten Commandments in Oklahoma. In the Netflix series, the monument has connections to Satan himself, despite the real-life monument not intending to be modeled in the likeness of Lucifer. In that regard, Greaves feels as though the use of the Satanic Temple's monument could misinterpret what the icon is meant to represent.

"It's distressing on the grounds that you have to worry about that association being made where people will see your monument and not know which preceded the other," Greaves detailed. "And thinking that you arbitrarily decided to go with the Sabrina design for your Baphomet monument, which rather cheapens our central icon."

The first season of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is on Netflix now.

Do you think the organization has a case against the Netflix series? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

[H/T The Blast]

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