Facebook dispute over ‘worship leader’ trademark continues

by Jacob Fuller

 

Trey Paul, FISM News 

Before you decide to use the term “worship leader” as part of your Facebook profile name, be aware your account could be suspended for trademark infringement.

“Rogue Worship Leader” (click the link to see his Instagram video about the trademark issue), who chooses to keep his real name anonymous, learned that this month.

A little more than a week ago, the Christian news outlet “Church Leaders” reported that the man behind the name “Rogue Worship Leader” on Facebook, announced his account was suspended because he had been reported for a trademark violation for using the term “worship leader.”

After being flagged by the account “Authentic Media LLC” — an umbrella company for several brands including one called “Worship Leader” — his Facebook account was suspended for trademark infringement, much to the shock of “worship leaders” everywhere.

“The company ‘Worship Leader’ is essentially reporting me for violating trademark laws because I have the term, ‘worship leader,’ in my name,” the man said in the Instagram video he posted last Thursday. “How crazy is that? This is a common term. This is a job title. It’s a term that has been used by churches, thousands of churches all over the world.”

He said he did some digging and learned that in 2016, “Authentic Media” filed a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the rights to that term.

“I just find this crazy, that a company called ‘Worship Leader’ can trademark the term ‘worship leader’ and then come after a page with ‘worship leader’ in the title … we’re clearly completely different brands,” he said in his Instagram post. “I’m not stealing any market from them, there’s no brand confusion. I just don’t understand why they’re doing this.”

Apparently, neither did some of the Instagram users like Steven Matthews Neaves who left a comment on the worship director’s Instagram post. He wrote in part: “That’s actually kind of wild that they could even trademark something that is considered a descriptor. It honestly sounds like this patent may have been improperly given the nature of the word’s multi-utility function in other spaces.”

NOT THE ONLY ONE

The Facebook account of “Rogue Worship Leader” has since been restored, but the dispute between at least one other account like his and “Worship Leader” magazine appears to be ongoing.

On March 23, the company “Worship Leader” posted an article called “Worship Leader’s Trademark Dispute Statement.” It was updated on March 28 and addresses what the author refers to as “sensationalized controversy due to a number of falsehoods that have been spread online by a handful of people and entities.”

According to the post, “Worship Leader had been communicating with “one company” about that company’s logo and brand being similar to that of Worship Leader. They claim that one company ‘went silent’ and they then ‘issued a trademark form with Facebook which resulted in seven accounts being taken down.”

“We admit this was an emotional reaction to a very real issue,” wrote the editors. “It was not coordinated with our legal representation, and the result was the unintentional shutting down of several unrelated accounts. We worked quickly to see these profiles restored, making direct requests to the social providers for the same. We are sincerely sorry that any of our actions around this situation created confusion, disappointment, and disunity.”

A video posted on Twitter appears to show “Worship Leader” president Lexi Fromm apologizing to “Rogue Worship Leader” in an Instagram reel.

But it turns out that “Rogue Worship Leader” isn’t the account “Worship Leader” has an issue with. “Worship Leader Probs” which is now “Worship Probs” shared an Instagram video featuring creator Brian Tabor.

Tabor shared correspondence with Worship Leader showing the company’s concerns about “confusion” between the “Worship Leader” logo and the “Worship Leader Probs” logo.

“I believe anything being done should be able to be done in the light,” Tabor said in the reel. “My hope is that all of this will stop and that we can get back to the business of the kingdom and fulfilling our mission to entertain, encourage and equip worship and production leaders and their teams around the world.”

“Church Leader” reached out to “Worship Leader” president Lexi Fromm to get a comment about Tabor’s Instagram reel. She directed them to “Worship Leader’s Trademark Dispute Statement.”

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