podcaster John – John Dehlin, creator of the long-running “Mormon Stories” podcast, says the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has no legal right to control use of the word “Mormon,” while the church argues some trademark rights extend to uses that could confuse peop
When John Dehlin launched “Mormon Stories” in 2005. he built a platform that drew attention from both critics and insiders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Now. more than two decades into that work. he says a federal lawsuit threatens to shut him down over something as common as a word.
Dehlin is fighting a legal case filed earlier this year by the church alleging copyright and trademark infringement. In new court filings. Dehlin argues the church has no legitimate legal authority to control the use of the term “Mormon.” He filed the suit in federal court in April. according to the filings.
The dispute centers on Dehlin and his “Mormon Stories” podcast and related web site. which the lawsuit says use words and images that “essentially belong to the church.” Church officials have said the branding has created confusion for some viewers who wondered if “Mormon Stories” was church-sanctioned.
The church. in turn. insists it is not trying to curb Dehlin’s content and is not seeking to punish him for his often-critical coverage of the denomination. That coverage includes an episode earlier this year featuring Wade Christofferson. a former resident of the far northwest suburbs who described long-ago allegations of child sex abuse connected to a Crystal Lake congregation. Christofferson is described in the filings as the brother of Mormon leader D. Todd Christofferson.
In its court filings, the church points to the public association between the word “Mormon” and the church itself. The lawsuit says the public associates “MORMON” with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. which the complaint says has used the mark “MORMON” and other names and marks incorporating the term since its founding nearly 200 years ago.
The church’s web site adds that it holds trademarks covering certain uses of “Mormon. ” including in connection with educational services. It says not every use of the word requires permission. but when it is used as part of organizational branding in ways that create confusion about affiliation. the church has a responsibility to address it.
Dehlin’s response focuses on free speech and timing. His lawyers are seeking to get the lawsuit dismissed, or at least elements of it thrown out, arguing the church waited too long to make a claim. The podcast launched in 2005.
Dehlin’s filings also cite an internal church meeting in 2015. where church leaders held what the documents describe as a discussion “addressed reasons that people leave the Church.” Dehlin says he was cited as one of the factors. His attorneys argue that amounts to “effectively an admission” that the “MORMON STORIES” podcast did not create confusion about being affiliated with or sponsored by the church.
The court fight goes further into how the church treated the word in recent years. Dehlin’s filings argue that the church’s claim over “Mormon” is inconsistent with steps the church says it has taken to distance itself from the term.
Dehlin’s documents describe “Mormon” as a “vast and complex term” used by millions of people for more than 200 years to identify themselves or others—along with their upbringings. genealogical roots. cultures. religious beliefs. and traditions—regardless of affiliation with the corporate institution of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
His filings also contend that “‘Mormon’ belongs to the public. ” including members of the “over 400 different Mormon sects currently existing nationwide” that trace their heritage back to Joseph Smith. the founder of Mormonism. and include people with varied connections to Mormon history. genealogy. beliefs. and culture.
The filings portray the church’s trademark posture as hypocritical. In 2018. Dehlin says. “the Church publicly and expressly abandoned (to the extent it owned any rights in ‘Mormon. ’ which Defendants do not concede) the very word ‘Mormon’ that it now claims ownership and control of and sues to protect.” His documents say Church President Russell M. Nelson declared the church would no longer use “Mormon” as an identifier. said “Mormon” was simply an “adjective. ” and condemned its use as “antithetical” to the church’s religious teachings and beliefs.
Dehlin’s lawyers allege that after Nelson’s mandate, the church took steps for a period of years to omit “Mormon” from official branding and trademark uses—citing, among other moves, the renaming of the famed “Mormon Tabernacle Choir” to “the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.”
The filing argues that this abandonment did not apply to the church’s assertions to the United States Patent and Trademark Office. It says the church maintained federal registrations for marks it now claims were abandoned.
In a separate thread, Dehlin’s filings raise the impact of the church’s legal power. They argue that because the church is a “multi-billion-dollar religious institution with unlimited resources. ” the lawsuit itself could silence the defendants through attrition and create a “chilling effect” for other critics and questioners who engage in what his filings call constitutionally protected speech about Mormonism.
The lawsuit has also attracted attention in the wake of the “Mormon Stories” episodes dealing with child sex abuse allegations and church responses. The filings say the church’s unusual legal action came months after “Mormon Stories” hosted Edward Nachel. who revealed that he had been part of the excommunication process for former McHenry County church leader Wade Christofferson in the 1990s after it came to light he molested one or more children.
Dehlin’s filings point to subsequent reporting by the Chicago Sun-Times. saying church leaders knew about Wade Christofferson’s misconduct but let him back into the church. including back into leadership. and apparently told nobody. They also say prosecutors later alleged that Wade Christofferson molested more children out of state. and that charges were filed in November in a case pending in Ohio where he moved from the Chicago area.
The filings further say that D. Todd Christofferson has acknowledged he knew in or about 2020 that his brother may be a child molester and did not call police or child welfare authorities or—according to the filings—tell other church leaders.
The documents say church officials have not explained any involvement by D. Todd Christofferson, described in the filings as one of three members of the faith system’s powerful “first presidency,” in filing or guiding the lawsuit.
For Dehlin, the fight is about far more than one podcast episode or one season of controversy. It is about whether the most recognizable shorthand for a religious world—one used widely by millions and by hundreds of related sects—can be treated like a controllable brand.
The question now sits with the federal court. as Dehlin’s team tries to narrow or end the case and the church insists it has trademark rights that protect against confusion about affiliation. For Dehlin and his supporters. the stakes extend beyond legal fees: they see a long-running platform that helped draw public attention to painful stories now facing the possibility of being blocked by a dispute over language.
Mormon Stories John Dehlin Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints LDS lawsuit trademark copyright Russell M. Nelson D. Todd Christofferson Wade Christofferson free speech