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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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Not So Fast, ‘The Osbournes’ Producer Says

LOS ANGELES (CN) - The producer of "The Osbournes" TV show sued a company partly owned by Ozzy Osbourne's son, claiming it has no right to reboot the show or make a spinoff.

JOKS Productions, which produced "The Osbournes" from 2002 through 2005, sued Schweet Entertainment and its majority members - Robert Worsoff, Brian Wendel and Fire Lake Inc. - in Superior Court.

The majority members own 55 percent of Schweet; Jack Osborne owns 45 percent of it, according to the on June 18 lawsuit.

"The Osbournes" was a hit show for MTV, following the profanity-laced daily antics of Ozzy, his wife Sharon, his daughter Kelly, and Jack.

Jack Osborne, also a member of JOKS, established Schweet Entertainment in 2011 with Worsoff, Wendel, and Fire Lake, according to the complaint.

In 2013, JOKS began trying to bring "The Osbournes" back to TV. At which point the "defendants, or some of them, asserted that they owned a 55 percent interest in any project that involved the production of new episodes of the show, and similarly claimed an ownership interest in the copyrights and/or trademarks in relation to such newly recorded episodes," the lawsuit states.

"In April JOKS filed a U.S. District Court lawsuit against the same defendants for declaratory relief," JOKS attorney Nicholas Rozansky said. "In that case, JOKS sought a declaration that the defendants have no right to any IP belonging to JOKS, including the show 'The Osbournes.'"

That complaint was dismissed on June 3 after the defendants stipulated that they do not dispute JOKS' ownership of the show and released any rights, Rozansky said.

But though they "agreed to drop any and all claims to the trademarks and copyrights, (they) continued claiming that they are 'attached' as producers of an Osbournes reboot, should that happen," Rozansky said.

JOKS seeks declaratory judgment that the defendants are not attached as producers to the show or to any potential projects derived from it.

The defendants could not immediately be reached for comment.

Rozansky is with Ezra Brutzkus Gubner, of Woodland Hills.

Follow @jamierossCNS
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