Talking of reality TV, makers of the second series of US reality show Rock Star have run into problems over the name of the supergroup the show is aiming to create. The second series of Rock Star, which was responsible for recruiting a new frontman for INXS in series number one, is looking for a frontman (or woman, I guess) to lead a new supergroup that will also include Motley Crue's Tommy Lee on drums, former Guns N Roses member Gilby Clarke on guitar and former Metallica member Jason Newsted on bass.
The plan was to call the new group Supernova, and as such the show is called Rock Star: Supernova. However, there is already a Californian punk band called Supernova, and they have sued the programme's makers, Mark Burnett Productions and CBS Broadcasting, over their use of their name (the lawsuit initially also named the new band's members, Lee, Clarke and Newsted, but the plaintiffs last month asked for their names to be removed from the action).
With the TV show reaching its conclusion this week, a judge in San Diego has issued an injunction which bars the programme's makers or the band they create from "performing rock and roll music, or recording, or selling rock and roll music recordings under the same [name], pending a trial of this action on its merits, or until otherwise ordered by the court".
It remains to be seen what the TV show's makers now do regards their new supergroup's name. While the injunction does leave it open for them to fight the original Supernova in court, to do so will be time consuming, and the new band will want to start recording and touring quickly to capitalize on the success of the TV show. Producers are yet to respond but, when they do, insiders expect them to announce an alternative name.