Fox Seeks ‘Mutant’ Injunction

Twentieth Century Fox filed court papers Tuesday seeking to block Tribune Entertainment and Marvel Enterprises Inc. from using the name “Mutant X,” for a live-action television program scheduled to debut in October.

The injunction request, filed with the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, follows a ruling this month by U.S. District Judge Allen Schwartz in New York, who ruled Tribune could proceed with its television series as long as it removed any reference in advertising materials to the original “X-Men” comic book or characters.

The case began in April when Fox sued Marvel and Tribune, claiming the syndicated TV show violated Fox’s licensing agreement with Marvel. The agreement, Fox said, prohibits Marvel from making any movie or TV series based on “X-Men” characters.

Schwartz’s ruling “should have been enough to force Tribune and Marvel to change the title of the program,” Fox attorney Ted Russell said Tuesday night. “But we just learned, though, that Tribune plans to continue to use the title that the judge ruled was a violation of our contractual rights.”

Tribune Entertainment officials could not be reached for comment late Tuesday, but the company issued a statement on its Web site.

“The only relationship between ‘X-Men’ and our ‘Mutant X’ television series is that each originates with Marvel, the publisher of ‘Spider Man,’ ‘The Incredible Hulk,’ and a whole host of other successful properties featuring superheroes,” the disclaimer said. “ . . . ‘Mutant X’ is not based on the ‘X-Men’ property and is not in any way related to . . . the motion picture ‘X-Men’ or Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.”

Tribune Entertainment, headquartered in L.A., is a subsidiary of the Chicago-based Tribune Co., the owner of the Los Angeles Times.