For example, does iHeartRadio own “The Buzz” moniker? Do they also own “The Edge?” Does Cumulus own “The Zone?” It would make sense, but I couldn’t imagine radio owners owning the rights to animal/mammal inspired monikers, such as “The Shark,” “The Tiger,” or “The Coyote.”
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Do Corporations own certain monikers?
- Thread starter The Rimshot
- Start date
Many station names have service marks registered. It used to be that they were only in the state where a station operated, but with the internet it has to be national
Yes, a name like "The Aardvark" can be registered as a mark for a radio station. Just like "Tony the Tiger" is a registered branding mark for a cereal.
When you say service mark, are you referring to something equal or related to a trademark?
Service Marks, trademarks, etc., are all a form of copyright.
Some monikers are owned by broadcasting companies, but not all of them. iHeart, for example, owns “Kiss,” though I believe its service mark requires it to defer to Cox and Radio One in markets where one or both own stations. KISS in San Antonio was using that moniker in the late 1940’s while WKYS started using it around 1964, both of which are long before KIIS began calling itself “Kiss.” I don’t know if “Buzz” is trademarked, but, at one time, “Edge” was owned by a consulting company, possibly Jacobs Media. “Breeze” is a moniker that’s not owned by anyone while Citadel once had a trademark on “Bull,” but I understand it lapsed long before Cumulus acquired it.
"Buzz" is not trademarked, although its combination with several other words (such as BuzzFeed) is.
Certainly could challenging to develop imaging with respect to copyright. Song writing comes to mind. Music publishing companies may have employees who focus on researching melody, lyric and chord progression.
"MAY have?" Yes, especially lately. It's become pretty easy with computer programs. They can compare those things with the entire library of recorded music.
Question: is a song sent through a VoltAir "set to eleven" still the same song?
Can Voltair change the melodic progression or lyric? Even if it speeds it up, even if it eliminates the dead air, or compresses the dynamic range, the melody is still recognizable. Or does it reorganize the notes?
David, Of course I'm not an attorney. My opinion is audio processing (such as Voltair) does not impact music copyright. But could it impact sound recording copyright? That would be a great Saturday morning conversation with a pot of coffee and cream, toasted bagels and cream cheese! These days it would be one cup of black unsweetened coffee and plain oatmeal. LOL
Who owns the "Froggy" imaging that has been on so many country stations over the years? The stations don't seem to belong to any chain in particular.
I see 4/1/74 as the date NBC's WRC-FM became WKYS, per the FCC history cards.
(REGISTRANT) Forever Media Inc. CORPORATION GEORGIA One Forever Drive Hollidaysburg PENNSYLVANIA 16648
The Edge is a mark owned by Jacobs Media; any stations that used it had to license it; they sold a consulting package where stations would get their programming advice and use of the mark.
I'm not aware of anyone owning the mark on The Zone; the station I worked at would have had first use back in the 90s before being absorbed into AMFM and then spun to CBS and we never filed for it. The same group would have had first use on The Coyote, but again, we never trademarked it back then.
IHeart owns the Kiss-FM mark dating back to when Gannett trademarked it at KIIS.
Bob-FM & Jack-FM are trademarked with a US company handling rights for its Canadian creator.
Don't forget "Cat Country" and classic rock stations named "The River" (owned by iHeartMedia) or "The Hawk".
There's also spinoffs from "Froggy" such as "Big Frog" (WFRG-FM in Utica, NY).
That station is still using the "froggy" logo (the smiling green frog face) that is trademarked by Forever Media.
I thought those "River" stations were rock-leaning classic hits. WHCN Hartford is.
Meanwhile, adult alternative WWOD (Hanover/Lebanon/White River Junction, NH/VT) uses "The River" branding. It is owned by Great Eastern Radio. Does iHeart only have a service mark on the rock hits format?
Of course, my comment was tongue-in-cheek. I find excessive VoltAir processing so annoying that I can't listen to some stations for more than a short period of time. And guess what: listeners don't listen for more than short periods of time. I suspect the tail is wagging the dog here.
That could be attributed to many things, from audio quality to song rotations. But audio quality isn't better at Sirius or Spotify, just different.
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