Give it away, give it away, give it away now.

Instead of fat bass lines, the only thing the Red Hot Chili Peppers are giving away nowadays are lawsuits.

On Nov. 19, the funk rock legends filed a lawsuit against cable network Showtime over the title of the David Duchovny show “Californication.” Since The Chili Peppers cut the 1999 album “Californication,” which also featured a single of the same name, Anthony Kiedis and company are claiming that the television show has stolen the identity of the band.

The band is accusing Showtime of “unfair competition, dilution of the value of the name and unjust enrichment,” according to a report by the Associated Press. If that wasn’t preposterous enough, the band wants the name of the show to be changed, along with damages and restitution fees.

The band did make this word famous for our generation, but the word “californication” was implemented into the English vocabulary nearly 40 years before the band released its album.

The term was made famous on bumper stickers in Oregon in 1972, reading “Don’t Californicate Oregon.” But that’s alright – the Oregonians only talked about Californicating something, not the act of Californication.

Words and phrases have been made famous by people with certain celebrity stature, but does this mean that average folk are forever barred from using, or even thinking about these befuddling words?

Similar lawsuits have occurred in years past. “Arrested Development” producers were unsuccessfully sued by the hip-hop group Arrested Development.

“In Living Color” was unsuccessfully sued by rock band Living Color and, in perhaps the most ridiculous example of all, Spike Lee sued Spike TV for obvious nonsensical reasons.

The band’s logic is selfish and unreasonable. It’s confusing as to what they hope to gain by pursuing this lawsuit. If the band wins the suit, then what? They monopolize the word Californication and attain money that other people have worked hard to achieve.

Although the producers of the Showtime show made a mistake by not copy writing or having a dialougue with the band prior to creating the show, there is no reason the band who wore socks on their Chili Peppers should be taking legal action.

The action to file a lawsuit is greedy on the band’s behalf and will certainly hurt their reputation. Instead of worrying about a word they borrowed to make famous, they should worry about what they should do next after the disastrous “Stadium Arcadium.”

“By The Way,” I hope this column will be water “Under The Bridge” and no “Scar Tissue” needs to be shed if we all seek the “Higher Ground.”