Netflix's Sabrina remake faced with legal action from Satanic Temple

Nov 3 2018, 5:23 am

It’s been less than two weeks since the release of the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and a religious group has already stated their intent to take legal action against the show.

Netflix’s dark adaptation of the classic comic and cartoon centres around occult practices and the supernatural. Sabrina, played by Kiernan Shipka, becomes immersed in the world of witchcraft, where witches and warlocks are devout followers of the “Dark Lord” and the “Church of Night.”

As the show progresses, she begins her studies at the “Academy of Unseen Arts,” where the main icon of the school is a statue of “the Dark Lord” surrounded by children.

Sabrina

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina/Netflix

A religious group called The Satanic Temple is making the case that the Netflix show used an almost exact replica of their religious icon. Lucien Greaves, Co-founder and spokesperson for The Satanic Temple, shared a side-by-side comparison shortly after the show released.

Greaves also confirmed via social media that the religious group would be taking legal action against Netflix.

Both statues are a depiction of Baphomet, a Sabbatic Goat that was drawn and coined by Eliphas Levi – a 19th-century occult author and magician.

sabrina

A replica drawing of Baphomet, a Sabbatic Goat that was first drawn by Eliphas Levi in the 19th-century (Eliphas Levi/Facebook)

The Satanic Temple argues that the show’s creators didn’t use a generic Sabbatic Goat, rather, they allegedly used an identical replica of the group’s religious icon.

The organization, founded in 2012, is a nontheistic religious group that aims to “encourage benevolence and empathy among all people.”

“The mission of The Satanic Temple is to encourage benevolence and empathy among all people, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense and justice, and be directed by the human conscience to undertake noble pursuits guided by the individual will,” reads part of their mission statement.

Many social media users are arguing that both images are a take on Levi’s original artwork, thus making it public domain. According to the Satanic Temple, however, they own the copyright over their icon, which apparently took several years to create.

“Unlike most imagery associated with Satanism, the unique Baphomet statue designed and built for TST is copyrighted,” reads a formal statement. ”

“Given the show’s utilization of the Baphomet statue to represent an evil, cannibalistic cult, a perception falsely associated with Satanism even in modern times, TST would have denied its use to the show creators. Not only does it contradict what Baphomet represents, we owe it to those who identify with us to not allow this image, and by extension them, to be represented this way.”

According to the religious organization, legal counsel has agreed that there’s a clear case of copyright infringement and letters have been sent to both Netflix and Warner Brothers regarding the matter.

Daily Hive has reached out to Netflix for comment and is awaiting a response.

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