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"Rockstar: Supernova" Hit by Lawsuit

CBS carefully selected the band for their second season of Rock Star, following the success of their first season with INXS. Instead of an established group, they finally decided to form a supergroup from scratch. But it seems that there may have been a big oversight: The new band's name, Supernova, may already belong to an old band, and now that old band has filed a trademark infringement and unfair competition suit against Mark Burnett Productions, CBS, and others involved with the show, which premiered its second season to modest ratings.

The Rock Star team is decidedly nonchalant about the suit. A lawyer representing Mark Burnett Productions denounced the complaint as "without merit." But the original Supernova insists they aren't to be taken lightly.

"It's like when you're a little kid and the bully down the street steals something from you and you don't do anything about it," said bassist Art Mitchell. "But we're going to kick some butt, dude. They probably figured we're clerks, but our drummer, Dave [Collins], is a lawyer."

Orange County punk rockers Mitchell, Collins and Jodey Lawrence have been performing as Supernova -- off and on -- since 1989. One of their most prominent songs was "Chewbacca," which was featured in Kevin Smith's Clerks. They had four gigs booked for July and August, and are concerned that the newly christened Supernova -- consisting of Tommy Lee (Motley Crue), Jason Newsted (ex-Metallica), and Gilby Clarke (ex-Guns n' Roses) -- will confuse fans and steal sales away.

And what does lawyer/drummer Dave have to say? "You can't just waltz up and use our name," he told MTV. "We're willing to fight for our name, our band. We have trademark rights to the name and we can prove those rights."

--The ARTISTdirect Staff
07.13.06