Satan Sues Netflix, and No, It's Not a Horror Flick
The Satanic Temple, a nontheistic religious and activist group, has sued Netflix over the use of the Baphomet statue in the "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina."
If you don't know Sabrina, she's an adolescent who wrestles with her half-witch, half-human nature. So yeah, she's a teenager.
Baphomet is a medieval deity with a human body and a goat's head; that would be Satan. The lawsuit is about copyright and trademark infringement, which of course means hell.
"Blatantly Misappropriated"
The Temple unveiled a nine-foot tall statue of Baphomet in 2015. In the lawsuit, the Temple claims Netflix and Warner Bros. "blatantly misappropriated" its design of the goat diety in their Sabrina remake.
The plaintiff's statue is depicted with two children looking up at the bronze figure, who is male. Traditionally, Baphomet is alone and has a female torso.
The Netflix version was "unquestionably copied," the lawsuit says. Like the Temple's, Sabrina's devil has no breasts and two children.
The complaint says the Netflix depiction of Baphomet has made the image a "symbol of evil," which has injured the Temple's reputation? To be clear, the plaintiff says Satan "is a literary figure symbolic of the eternal rebellion in opposition, rather than the personalization of evil."
Damages of the Damned
For penance, damages, or whatever, the plaintiff wants the defendants to pay at least $150 million. Literally.
They have not responded, but the case will be complicated. The statues definitely look similar.
However, it's hard to know what the Temple actually wants. When its statue was unveiled, attendees had to sell their souls to Satan to get a ticket to the ceremony.
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