Posted on 10/08/2007 11:39:30 PM PDT by csvset
NORFOLK
Public radio is taking on Christian radio in a lawsuit over who has the right to use the name, The Current.
Minnesota Public Radio, which runs a progressive music station called The Current, filed a federal lawsuit against a Virginia Beach Christian radio station that operates Positive Hit Radio, The Current.
The public radio station says the Beach station is trying to "mislead and confuse" listeners and has asked the court to issue an injunction stopping Positive Hit Radio from promoting itself as The Current. MPR says listeners could be led to believe that the two stations are affiliated.
The suit, initially filed in Minnesota, was transferred to the Norfolk federal court and made public last week.
The suit says that three months after MPR launched The Current, in January 2005, Virginia Beach station WJLZ changed its name to Positive Hit Radio, The Current. At the time, MPR had trademark applications pending with the federal government.
"MPR's The Current broadcasts have received an enormous amount of popularity and media attention," MPR says in its suit.
MPR plays largely new rock, blues, hip-hop and Americana and can be found on the Internet at www.thecurrent.org or at MySpace.com. The station broadcasts The Current throughout seven Midwestern states and over the Armed Forces Radio Network.
Positive Hit Radio, The Current, plays Christian-themed rock and hip-hop. It can be heard throughout Hampton Roads at 88.5 FM and in different cities at 97.9, 103.7 and 103.9. Its Web site is www.currentfm.org, and it also has a MySpace page.
A lawyer for Positive Hit Radio denied any attempt to mislead radio listeners and said the station is free to use The Current because the government denied MPR the trademarks. MPR is appealing the denials.
"We think ultimately we will prevail," said Colby M. May of the American Center for Law & Justice, which represents the Beach station.
May said he plans to file a response and a counterclaim against MPR within two weeks. No hearings in the case have been set.
Before the case was transferred, a federal judge in Minnesota found that MPR hadn't presented any evidence showing that Positive Hit Radio was specifically targeting Minnesota residents. But the judge did not decide the overall merits of the case before transferring it here.
A lawyer for MPR's The Current declined to comment and referred questions to an MPR spokeswoman. She did not respond to messages.
Besides an injunction, MPR is also seeking ownership of the domain name, currentfm.com, and unspecified monetary damages.
Tim McGlone, (757) 446-2343, tim.mcglone@pilotonline.com
Who's paying Minnesota Public Radio's legal fees?
RIIIIIIGGHHHHT! Everybody wants to be NPR!/sarcasm
I sent an e-mail asking MPR regarding their legal fees. I want to know if our tax dollars are being spent on this.
LOL
How many radio station share a common logo type?
Lets see
KOOL FM - more than a few, with just a qickie goggle search
(some initial)ROCK FM, and so on.
How many do you know?
Must be the argument over Web territory more than anything.
The whole thing sounds like a big CROCK to me!
Hard call here. I have no use for Christian hip-hop but even less use for MPR. That said, anything MPR doesn’t like is probably a good idea.
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