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Daily News
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Spike Lee and Viacom Settle
Viacom may now move forward in relaunching TNN as Spike TV.
Thursday, July 10, 2003
By Buzz Johnson
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It's official: Spike Lee is releasing what he thought was a legal hold on his
first name, and TNN can use it for their new network especially for men. Parent
company Viacom and Lee have settled their legal dispute, and Spike TV is now
off and running.
Said Lee, "On reviewing the circumstances concerning the name change of the
network, I no longer believe that Viacom deliberately intended to trade on my
name when naming Spike TV. As an artist and a filmmaker, I feel that protection
of freedom of expression is a critical value, and I am concerned that my efforts
to stop Viacom from using the Spike TV name could have the unintended consequence
of threatening the First Amendment rights of Viacom and others. I am pleased
to be able to resolve this matter and be able to work with Viacom on new projects."
Said Viacom, "We are pleased to put aside our differences with such a highly
respected and influential creative talent as Mr. Lee, and we are delighted to
have resolved this lawsuit with him."
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