Chili Peppers Burn Showtime In Lawsuit

Anthony Kiedis and his Red Hot Chili Pepper bandmates are suing Showtime Network for naming their new David Duchovny fronted show Californication. As you may remember, Californication was the title of the rockers’ 1999 album, which went on to sell fifteen million copies. The suit claims copywrite infringement and seeks an immediate injunction to halt the title from being used. The band is also seeking monetary reparations.

According to BBC, show mastermind Tom Kapinos has claimed he originally came across the phrase during a trip to Oregon, but any doubt to the title’s origins seemed to be cleared up when producers named one of the characters Dani California, not so coincidentally the title of another Chili Pepper’s song. We’ll have to wait and see how all of this plays out in court, but a superficial examination of the case doesn’t seem to leave much hope for Showtime escaping unscathed.