Overview
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its IP arm, Intellectual Reserve Inc., filed a federal lawsuit accusing podcaster John Dehlin and the Open Stories Foundation of creating confusion about official church ties.
- The complaint in U.S. District Court in Utah targets the ‘Mormon Stories’ name, a past blue logo with a light-rays motif the church says mimicked its designs, and the use of church-copyrighted photos.
- The church asks the court to bar use of any marks it says are confusingly similar and to stop the reproduction or display of copyrighted works, including iconic images it owns.
- Church officials say they first sent a warning letter in November and pursued mediation in February and March, which failed, before moving to sue.
- Dehlin rejects claims of infringement, saying he changed the logo color and style, added the church’s preferred disclaimer, and removed images the church flagged, while arguing the dispute is about branding rather than podcast content.