Oddly enuf, NBC owned the name "Johnny Carson," leaving the comedian with nothing but his birthname after he retired. I don't think they bothered him with the legalities, however.
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Whoa! We really need a legal opinion here on given names and who owns what. If a name is your name, it's your name. Why would you sell your name to an employer? Moreover, what radio station owner, group or otherwise, would ever pay big bucks to buy your name? I'd suggest strongly none exists.
His name is John Carson. If NBC wants to promote him and says, "We'll do it as 'Johnny Carson' and we own the name," will he say no when he's at the start of his career and the bucks are on the horizon? You buy "Tommy Carten" and I'm yours for life, if the money is right.
L
lifetimedj
Guest
NEPA_radiobored said:
RIDICULOUS. When with Sinclair, he was taken OFF the morning show and given a production department job. The name obviously was unimportant then. Currently, he had a one-hour show on 102.3. Nobody is paying "substantial cash" for that. In this day and age, these companies pay cash for very little, and certainly not someone's name who does a one-hour airshift who's not even a primary air talent. (if that were the case, Rocky & Sue, Doc Medek, Jeff Walker and Rusty Fender better have a lot of cash - they are actually well-known talents with ratings, who are on the air with regular shows).
Does Jeff Walker, for instance, own that air name? Or did he just assume it? Or does it belong to KRZ?
Back to Jim....my understanding was that he left on his own accord...not that he was "resigned" by management; I think their management did not want him to leave.....Of course only Jim and J. Burkavage really know what the story is. Its been a crazy month, two long time radio people go out of the business with Jim and Sharkey going out.
KF
KF
I've seen non-competes that say the company owns EVERYTHING. The characters you created, your "style" and yes even your name. Wasn't there a while when Rusty Fender was in jail that someone else worked under his name?
I worked in the broadcasting biz over 30 years, radio and TV, and never once came across a situation where a station "owned" or wanted to "own" someone's given name. Come to think of it, I know of no instance of them wanting to possess a fictitious name either. As to Johnny Carson, he once had a line of mens clothing, so either he was granted a waiver by NBC or they never did own his name. I've read at least two Carson biographies and have no recollection of any discussion of ownership of the man's name. Given Carson's enormous influence at NBC, I'd guess that if they did once own his name, he had that language removed from his contracts decades before he left the air.
I don't know the circumstances of Jim's leaving, but would hope that, if he was fired, his silence on the matter was paid for heavily in a severance package.
There are more than a few fallacies about life on the radio hereabouts. One of them is that contracts were/are common. They may be in place with a few key people these days, but not everyone has a contract. Even in its monster days, WARM had one player under contract; Harry West. Towards the end of those monster days, Ron Allen was given a contract, but that was at his request. It was neither offered nor required.
I don't know the circumstances of Jim's leaving, but would hope that, if he was fired, his silence on the matter was paid for heavily in a severance package.
There are more than a few fallacies about life on the radio hereabouts. One of them is that contracts were/are common. They may be in place with a few key people these days, but not everyone has a contract. Even in its monster days, WARM had one player under contract; Harry West. Towards the end of those monster days, Ron Allen was given a contract, but that was at his request. It was neither offered nor required.
He mentioned this himself in an interview shortly before or after his separation from NBC.
Masterg I don't know where you have worked in this market, but with the exception of 2 stations out of 8, I have always had a contract or non compete. Maybe that makes me special 
Most non-compete's are a part of employment agreements.They are usually documents that state the pay arrangements and protect the employer.Often very one sided to the licensee.I've seen some where there is a defined benefit for termination without cause.And often an agreed upon raise, but in most cases that's it.
I have heard of a few where the name was owned by the company but very few and I never actually dealt with this.Very rare.
I have heard of a few where the name was owned by the company but very few and I never actually dealt with this.Very rare.
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