Co-founder and spokesman Lucien Greaves said the organization is “taking legal action” against Netflix over a statue design appropriated by The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
In a series of tweets, Greaves outlined their discontent with the Netflix depiction of their commissioned statue in the new supernatural Riverdale spin-off show. “Yes, we are taking legal action regarding #TheChillingAdventuresofSabrina appropriating our copyrighted monument design to promote their asinine Satanic Panic fiction,” he said.
In reference to a now-deleted tweet from a Sabrina creator, Greaves added that “the writer/director for Sabrina apparently feels that the ‘struggle for justice’ allows for their show to appropriate our intellectual property.” When a user brought up that The Satanic Temple’s (TST) statue of Baphomet was taken from Eliphas Levi’s art, Greaves responded that the “unique Baphomet design, with those particular children flanking it, is copyrighted by us and is our central icon.”
“I’m amazed that anybody is confused as to why we would seek legal remedy over Sabrina using our monument,” Greaves continued, doubling down: “Would they be as understanding of a fictional show that used a real mosque as the HQ of a terrorist cell? A fictional Blood Libel tale implicating real world Jews?”
He also posted a comparison for reference:
It remains unclear precisely what “legal action” will entail. Social media response has been largely dismissive, but Greaves maintains that TST has a legitimate legal argument. @GoGoogleMe seems to have summed it up nicely, however, as Greaves retweeted her explanation:
“Simple issue,” she said. “Big production company stole the work of an artist & the organization that had the art comissioned. Then used said art to further spread negative stereotypes of the org.” Though, for an organization that literally worships a Biblical icon of evil, it is difficult to know which stereotypes are the negative ones.