Nick Cannon is going to have to fight with MTV after a federal judge refused to throw out the company’s lawsuit against Zeus Network over his new show “Bad vs. Wild.”
The judge’s ruling allows Viacom, which owns MTV, to pursue trademark infringement claims against the streaming service, even though he dismissed the copyright claims originally filed.
Here’s what went down.
The original series features teams of comedians and rappers competing in freestyle battles and comedy games, with performances from major artists.
Viacom’s legal team argued that Zeus essentially stole every element of the formula and slapped a new name on it to make it look original.
According to the judge’s decision, the copyright claims didn’t hold up because allowing them would make it illegal to create any formulaic television show, which would be absurd.
But the trademark angle is different.
The judge said Viacom made a strong enough case that the similar names and logos could confuse viewers into thinking “Bad vs. Wild” is connected to the original series.
Zeus’ lawyer, Jonathan D. Goins, told Billboard that his client is confident they’ll win at summary judgment or trial, claiming they’ve done nothing wrong.
Viacom hasn’t publicly responded yet, but the company clearly isn’t backing down from this fight.
The timing is particularly rough for Nick Cannon because he’s already dealing with his latest controversy.
The comments went viral and sparked significant backlash across social media, with critics pointing out the historical inaccuracy of his claims.
Now he’s juggling legal pressure from MTV and the public relations fallout from his political remarks.