Last week, the writer-director-producer-actor sued Viacom, TNN's owner, claiming that the decision to rename the cable network was a deliberate attempt to capitalize on his name and image. TNN's shift to Spike TV is part of the plan to cement its reputation as "the first network for men." TNN, home of "Baywatch" and "Star Trek" reruns as well as WWE wrestling, is launching a new assortment of original programming including the Pamela Anderson animated vehicle "Stripperella" from animation legend Stan Lee (no relation to Spike).

Viacom's lawyers argued that the "Do the Right Thing" filmmaker couldn't prove that his name had any direct relationship to TNN's switch and suggested that without any kind of direct reference to Lee's persona, his first name couldn't be protected.

"Contrary to defendants' position, the court is of the opinion that in the age of mass communication, a celebrity can in fact establish a vested right in the use of only their first name or a surname," the judge writes. "There are many celebrities that are so recognized, including Cher, Madonna, Sting and Liza."

Tolub's decision compared TNN's possible name change to a network calling a program the "Cronkite News Hour." This ignores the other figures, public and otherwise, with the name "Spike" as well as the word's proactive use as both a noun and a verb. Walter Cronkite is, without too much question, the highest-profile person of that appellation, and his last name is rarely, if ever, used as a verb or as a noun.

Lee's attorney Johnny Cochran was, naturally, pleased.

"We're obviously elated," he says. "We had a good judge who looked at the law and at the facts."

Just as naturally, Viacom spokesman Dan Martinsen was less pleased, promising to immediately appeal and seek a stay of the judge's decision.

"We respectfully disagree with the judge's decision, which was not supported by the law or the evidence," Martinsen says.