CHURCH ACCUSES STUDIO OF INFRINGING ITS LOGO

The million-member Church of God, based in Cleveland TN, has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit again Sony Pictures, IFC Films, Mandalay Pictures, and Comcast for using a “mirror version” of its logo in the movie Salvation Boulevard, which opened in four theaters last weekend. Although the film depicts an amoral fundamentalist preacher, played by Pierce Brosnan, who turns his church into a business empire, the Church of God has little to say in its lawsuit about the content. It points out, however, that the logo of the fictitious church in the movie is virtually identical with its own. The Church of God is seeking an injunction to bar the further exhibition of the movie and is demanding an award based on the defendants’ profits. At this point, shutting down the movie may be welcomed by the distributors. The film opened with nearly unanimous negative reviews and dismal ticket sales, despite the talents of Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris, and Marisa Tomei. (Peter Rainer in the Christian Science Monitor remarked that the movie “has a terrific cast and not much else.”) The lawsuit was first reported on Tuesday by TorrentFreak.com, which ordinarily reports on the studios’ own copyright lawsuits.