The lawsuit alleges unfair competition, dilution of the value of the name and unjust enrichment, claiming the title is "inherently distinctive, famous ... and immediately associated in the mind of the consumer" with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Well, almost. It took the show to get me to forget about that overplayed album.
"Californication is the signature CD, video and song of the band's career, and for some TV show to come along and steal our identity is not right," said singer Anthony Kiedis in a statement.
Really? Here's the title track from the album:
The lawsuit also alleges use of a character named "Dani California", which is also the title of a Red Hot Chili Peppers song released in 2006. Somebody forgot to mention that "Dani California" sounds remarkably similar to Tom Petty's "Last Dance With Mary Jane", but since there was no lawsuit, it just became one of those well known "coincidences" and not litigious folklore. What a shame there are not more desperate people out there also suing for the bevy of pop culture references made on the program:
In Episode 5, during the interview with Henry Rollins on Talkback Radio, Rollins mentions the names of Hank's previous novels: South of Heaven, Seasons In The Abyss and God Hates Us All. These are all names of Slayer albums.
The Peeping Tom song "Mojo" is playing at a party when Hank goes to pick up his daughter. Some say that the name Californication was originally coined to illustrate Mr Bungle's third album, California, before being borrowed by The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Both Mr Bungle and Peeping Tom are bands led by Mike Patton, Faith No More's former singer.
Hank finds Becca listening to Eagles of Death Metal and Death Cab for Cutie on her iPod.
Becca mentions that she owns a Cradle of Filth t-shirt to Hank.
In the pilot episode, when Hank is sleeping on the sofa and is wakened by his ex-girlfriend, part of a radio broadcast from one of the Fensler Films GI Joe Public Service Announcements is audible in the background.
The show frequently references the work of musician Warren Zevon. When doing a crossword puzzle, Hank was stuck on a question for which the clue was "5 letter word for excitable boy"; the answer is Zevon. Excitable Boy is the name of one of Zevon's most popular albums. In the episode "Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonder", Hank tells the surfer girl he meets at the store "Life'll kill ya," — the name of a Zevon song and album. In the same episode, Becca's band plays "Don't Let Us Get Sick" and later in the episode a cover of the song is played as well. And in "California Son", the episode opens with "Mohammed's Radio". In "The Devil's Threesome", Hank tells Charlie "Your shit's fucked up." Charlie answers rhetorically "My shit's fucked up?" The latter is the name of a Zevon song. In the episode "The Last Waltz", a cover of Zevon's song "Reconsider Me" by Steve Earle and Reckless Kelly can be heard.
Karen says that she wanted to move to Seattle to stalk and marry Chris Cornell, of the hard rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave.
The line used by Hank in "Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonder", "I think ya jarred something loose there tiger" is a direct quote from the movie Kingpin.
In episode 9, Charlie says that after his spin job, the public won't be able to tell whether Hank's next book is a piece of shit or "a heartbreaking work of staggering genius," which is the name of a Dave Eggers book. To this, Hank replies "There's a difference?"
In episode 2 Hank starts his blog post with "Hank hates you all" a reference to Spider Jerusalem's quote "I hate you all".
Episode 4 is titled "Fear and Loathing at the Fundraiser," a reference to the Hunter S. Thompson book "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas".
In episode 10, Dani makes reference to the TV program "Slut Wars" being popular. This is a reference to the film The TV Set in which David Duchovny plays a writer of a TV pilot. In the film, the fictional network Duchovny is pitching his pilot to have just had a popular hit with the equally fictional "Slut Wars."
In episode 7, Becca compares the result of Hank and Karen's relationship to the Robert Frost poem 'Nothing Gold Can Stay'. Hank later responds to Becca's comparison by telling her "Stay gold, Ponyboy", a line from the book and movie 'The Outsiders', a story in which Robert Frost's poem also plays a small part.
I'm guessing the satire of South Park and the pop culture joke blending of Family Guy are soon to be sued for their incredible thievery.
The suit seeks a permanent injunction barring Showtime and the other defendants from using the title "Californication" for the show, damages and restitution and disgorgement of all profits derived by the defendants. Nice. Does the band want to take a little break from making crappy music and eat up the profits of a fresh, funny show? Apparently - clearly a couple of guys who used to wear socks on their dicks believe they came up with the idea of "californication".
Never mind that over 35 years ago the portmanteau came into play, and that show creator and executive producer Tom Kapinos liked that idea of the dominant and distinctly Californian lifestyle.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers passed their creative plateau years ago, and it's kinda pathetic and disgustingly narcissistic for them to glom onto an original and innovative program for their own benefit. I look forward to many more episodes of the program, especially if I have to deal with more watered down funk-pop from a band in the twilight of their creativity.
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