The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may essentially be done with the descriptor “Mormon,” but its efforts to enforce its trademark over the term remain very much alive.
Using common nicknames such as “Mormon church,” then-church President Russell M. Nelson warned in a 2018 worldwide address, “is a major victory for Satan.”
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Then-church President Russell M. Nelson, speaking at General Conference in 2023, urged members, media and scholars not to use “Mormon” when referring to the faith or its adherents.
Nevertheless, at least four different podcasts, all critical of the faith, have received emails in recent months from attorneys representing the church. The letters request that their hosts nix “Mormon” from their branding or abandon attempts to trademark their show names containing the term.
Those impacted include John Dehlin’s “Mormon Stories,” a giant in the world of church-critical podcasting that has been operating under its current name for 20 years.
Asked why church lawyers are targeting Dehlin and other critical voices now, the Utah-based faith provided a general statement explaining that it, “like thousands of organizations, holds registered trademarks to prevent confusion about what is and isn’t official church content or content otherwise affiliated with or approved by the church.”
It continued: “When we identify trademark or copyright infringement, our typical first step is to contact the individual privately to request they update their materials, with the goal of resolving the matter amicably. We apply this approach consistently, with church members and nonmembers alike.”
Dehlin and others argue, however, that the term “Mormon” should be fair game, especially given church leaders’ efforts to distance the institution from the moniker, as well as its usage by more than Latter-day Saints.
To date, The Salt Lake Tribune has not received any similar requests regarding its news-based “Mormon Land” podcast and Mormon Land newsletter of the same name.
‘Mormon Stories’ responds
(Annie Sorensen | Special to The Tribune) John Dehlin presents at a THRIVE conference in St. George in 2022, believes the trademark dispute can be resolved "amicably."
In November, Dehlin received an email from Intellectual Reserve Inc., an arm of the church tasked with managing its intellectual property.
The email asserted that the platform’s use of the term “Mormon” — when paired with other visuals trademarked by the church, specifically the Christus symbol and a “light rays” design used to illuminate text, plus copyright images — could lead some to infer that “Mormon Stories” is affiliated with the global faith of 17.5 million members.
“The church respects your right to free speech and has no desire to censor your podcast, website or social media accounts in any way,” the email stated. “Our request is that you update elements of your branding to ensure viewers can distinguish your content from church content.”
Since then, the show has swapped its navy blue color scheme — shared by the church — for orange.
“We’re expecting to be able to resolve this amicably,” Dehlin said, “without any need for litigation.”
Nevertheless, he is adamant that he will not drop “Mormon” from the name.
“It refers to Mormon culture writ large,” Dehlin said. “And the church explicitly abandoned the Mormon identity under President Nelson.”
Who owns ‘Mormon’?
Cara Gagliano — an intellectual property attorney for the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation, which successfully represented the Mormon Mental Health Association in a similar case in 2016 — stressed this point regarding abandonment as well.
Per common law, a trademark is voided when it becomes too generic or an organization discontinues its usage with no intent to resume. The latter, Gagliano said, is often difficult to prove.
“But in this case, you actually have them taking affirmative, clear acts to abandon it, to say we don’t intend to use this term anymore,” Gagliano explained, pointing to faith leaders’ repeated requests in recent years to be known by the full name of the church and urging members, media and scholars not to use “Mormon” when referring to the faith or its adherents.
This, plus the church’s efforts to rename its website, social media accounts and other properties, make it, she argued, “a fairly clear abandonment case.”
Gagliano currently represents Burke Sorenson, the host of “Mormon News Roundup,” a much newer and, in terms of reach, much smaller show than “Mormon Stories,” albeit no less critical.
In May, Sorenson received an email from an attorney from the Texas firm Pirkey Barber. The lawyer, who last year challenged a Utah brewery’s use of “Deseret” in the name of one of its beers, said the firm represents the church and Intellectual Reserve Inc. in intellectual property matters.
Like the email sent to Dehlin, the one Sorenson received expressed concern that some might wrongly conclude the channel is formally associated with the faith. Unlike Dehlin’s email, however, it said nothing about imagery, zeroing in only on the use of “Mormon” as the issue.
“The public has come to strongly and uniquely associate the Mormon marks with the church,” the email stated. “...The church places high value on that association, as it allows individuals to identify the church’s legitimate and authorized information, services and goods.”
Like Dehlin, Sorenson has no plans to drop the term.
“We’re not,” he said, “going gently into that good night.”
Gagliano said she submitted a response to the attorney representing the church months ago saying as much. She said she has not heard back.
Trademark vs. trademark
To date, the church has not put pressure on the church-critical podcasts “Radio Free Mormon” and “Mormon Discussion,” or their parent nonprofit, “Mormon Discussions,” to excise the M-word from their products.
Nonetheless, Bill Reel, executive director and co-host, received an email from Intellectual Reserve Inc. last month informing him the church “is prepared to oppose” his applications to trademark both names. (Reality TV star Heather Gay famously hit a similar snag when trying to trademark the name of her 2023 memoir, “Bad Mormon”.)
(Bill Reel) Podcaster Bill Reel said he tried to trademark the names "Radio Free Mormon" and "Mormon Discussions" after someone launched "copycat" podcasts. Soon after, he received a notice from the church asking him to rescind his applications.
“The church respects your right to free speech and has no desire to censor the speech on your podcast, website or social media accounts in any way,” the email Reel received stated. “However, the church has an obligation to protect its Mormon trademarks as unique identifiers to prevent confusion.”
Reel isn’t buying the “confusion” argument.
“Nobody,” he said, “is mistaking our work for official church channels.”
Reel also believes the fact that adherents of multiple faiths tracing their roots back to Joseph Smith claim the term should count for something — an argument the Electronic Frontier Foundation made in 2016.
However, the podcaster, who said he started looking into trademarks to counteract the sudden appearance of “copycat” podcasts bearing identical names, said he doesn’t really feel like he has a choice, given the depth of the church’s pockets.
“I don’t want to [comply],” Reel said, “but I feel bullied into doing so.”
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