Lee Daniels has a problem with titles. The filmmaker’s TV hit Empire is now a target, since it shares its title with a small record label.
Fox filed a lawsuit on Monday in California to get a court declaration that it will not have to change the title of the smash hit series, which stars Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the network says it has received a demand letter from Empire Distribution Inc. of California.
The label claims it has rights to “Empire,” “Empire Distribution” and “Empire Recordings,” as well as trademark dilution because the show’s Empire Records is run by a “homophobic drug dealer prone to murdering his friends.”
While Fox admits that Empire Distribution exists, the network notes that you have to go through seven pages of Google results for “empire record label” to find it. In addition, the complaint notes that there is a 1995 movie called Empire Records.
Empire Distribution first sent Fox a letter on Feb. 16, the complaint notes, demanding $8 million to fix the trademark infringement. A second letter, received on March 6, demands $5 million.
Fox obviously doesn’t want to pay and decided to file the preemptive lawsuit.
The network told TheWrap that its suit “underscores Fox’s commitment to vigorously protecting its intellectual property,” adding that the Empire Distribution claims are “meritless.”
For Daniels, this might give him a bit of deja vu. In 2013, Warner Bros. forced The Weinstein Company to change the name of The Butler to Lee Daniels’ The Butler because of an obscure silent short that had the same name.
image of ‘Empire’ star Terrence Howard courtesy of Kristin Callahan/ACE/INFphoto.com