Legal Threats For Spoof Cruise/scientology Site

A website satirising Tom Cruise's affiliation to the Church of Scientology through spoof videos and commentary could face closure as religious officials threaten legal action.

ScienTOMogy.info has been bombarded by complaints from leaders of the controversial religion, which is championed by TOM CRUISE and a string of other celebrities including John Travolta and Katie Holmes.

In particular, recent postings on the New Zealand-based website threaten court action for copyright infringement of the domain name.

Gossip website The Scoop reports a legal letter sent to ScienTOMogy web creators which reads, "You are hereby on notice that the registration and use of this domain name in this fashion has caused your name to be falsely associated with our client's registered mark, SCIENTOLOGY.

"The fact that you have changed one letter ("m" instead of "l") does not protect you from trademark infringement."

The site - which ridicules the MISSION IMPOSSIBLE star's devotion to the religion and recent engagement to Katie Holmes with unflattering archive television footage, spoof videos and cartoons - responds, "The site is purely satirical and is for entertainment. It contains no fact nor claims to do so and is completely non-commercial.

"The site clearly states in its header, 'This site has absolutely no connection whatsoever with the Church of Scientology, it's affiliated organisations or, needless-to-say, Tom Cruise'.

"It is designed for commentary and criticism within the limits of Free Speech."