Open Stories Foundation and podcaster Dr. John Dehlin today filed their response to a trademark and copyright lawsuit brought by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court in Utah and can be found here. (link)

Mormon Stories Podcast has been operating for more than two decades providing an independent platform where people can explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through stories told by current and former members of the Mormon Church, Mormon historians, and others about Mormonism.

The “Mormon Stories” name and its online branding have employed a consistent theme for 20 years, including disclaimers and clarity regarding having no formal affiliation with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Despite being fully aware and familiar with Mormon Stories and its creator and host, Dr. John Dehlin, The Church never once suggested a problem with the branding of Mormon Stories or The Church’s trademark or copyright rights. In fact, prior to The Church’s recent and unexpected intellectual property enforcement efforts, the only concern The Church had ever expressed about Mormon Stories related to the content, opinions, and viewpoints presented on the podcast.

What Happened?

• In April 2026, The Church of Latter-day Saints filed an unexpected enforcement lawsuit against Dehlin and his Open Stories Foundation claiming trademark rights The Church had spent years abandoning, and which “Mormon Stories” had been using for decades previously.
• “When first approached by The Church last November, we responded in good faith and immediately made changes to the issues The Church pointed to. We engaged in cooperative mediation and accepted a significant amount of their requests. We did not expect to encounter an all-or-nothing, one-sided approach to mediation that we feel The Church adopted,” says Dr. Dehlin.

Why does this matter?

• “It’s very troubling that The Church spent years on a very public and explicit rebranding campaign abandoning the name ‘Mormon’ as a trademark; and at the same time was making the opposite representations to the United States Patent and Trademark Office to maintain trademark registrations for names The Church had expressly dropped,” says Dehlin.
• The Church is using its improperly retained trademark registrations to exercise control over words and language that it has no right to control, like the word “Mormon.”
• “No single church owns the rights to the words Christian, Catholic, Jewish, or Muslim. Similarly, the LDS Church’s actions raise serious First Amendment concerns that impact more than Mormon Stories. Hundreds of organizations, churches, businesses, websites, podcasts, blogs, and commentators use the word “Mormon” descriptively. Mormon Stories believes The Church’s legal position, if accepted, could encourage broader efforts to control independent uses of terminology associated with the Mormon faith, culture, and community.”

Why was mediation unsuccessful?

• We were surprised mediation was unsuccessful because Mormon Stories agreed to so much of what The Church requested:
  • Even though we have used the color blue in our branding and logos for many years, and even though The Church does not own trademark rights to the color blue and has never claimed to, we changed our logo color to orange – which The Church accepted.
  • We agreed to place the name of Dr. John Dehlin prominently next to the logo on all podcast platforms.
  • We agreed to remove all copyrighted images from podcast thumbnails, even though our use qualified as Fair Use under the Copyright Act, these images are freely offered by The Church to the public for news and reporting purposes, and we have used Church images consistent with other media outlets for many years without objection.
  • We added a disclaimer using the exact language The Church requested on every page of the Mormon Stories website and in the description of the podcast on every podcast platform, which is the typical placement of disclaimers when resolving trademark infringement disputes. In fact, the Open Stories Foundation website has had a disclaimer on it stating it is a secular organization with no affiliation to the LDS Church or any church since its inception in 2011.
  • We agreed to remove light rays design elements from our logo and branding, despite our use of light rays as a design theme for more than a decade without objection.
• “We feel our compromises were not legally required, but our willingness to adopt them in good faith should have been sufficient to avoid expensive federal court litigation that we are ill-equipped to handle as easily as The Church can,” says Dehlin.

Is The Church trying to silence criticism?

• We certainly hope The Church is not using its intellectual property rights as a tool to silence the open discussion of LDS Church history, doctrine, policy, and culture, and we choose to approach this dispute in that framing.
• But we also feel The Church is misusing its trademark and copyright rights by trying to enforce rights it has explicitly abandoned and is selectively enforcing copyrights against what is plainly “fair use” that The Church has permitted for decades.
• “The Church’s actual trademarks do not give it ownership in any way to the word “Mormon,” the color blue, or the use of “rays;” and we are determined to defend ourselves and push back at the effort to improperly control language and branding that The Church does not have a right to control via intellectual property rights,” says Dehlin.

Why now?

• “We are as perplexed as anyone – we are still wondering why The Church suddenly expressed trademark and copyright concerns despite 20 years of having no branding objections to Mormon Stories podcast,” Dehlin said.
• “The Church’s simple statement about ‘public questions and ongoing confusion’ does not resonate with any actual fact on the ground,” explains Dehlin.
• Whatever the motivations are, the Church’s sudden enforcement efforts against podcasters in November 2025 and President Dallin H. Oaks’ instruction to Church members to beware of unauthorized podcasts in January 2026 show that the Church has taken a heightened interest in Mormon-themed podcasting.

What about the term “Mormon”?

• The Church has expressly abandoned the use of “Mormon” as a trademark or branding word for The Church.
• “We believe The Church does not own trademark rights relating to the use of “Mormon” in any way, and many of its trademark registrations are properly considered invalid due to its abandonment and the inconsistent positions it has taken in public and with the trademark office.
• “There is no use of “Mormon” that should require The Church’s permission, and we believe The Church’s attempt to exercise ownership and control over that word is inappropriate and raises serious First Amendment concerns extending beyond just Mormon Stories.”
• The public has no trouble distinguishing official Church materials from independent commentary, such as that found on “Mormon Stories” podcast. We have not experienced any evidence that supports The Church’s allegations of confusion. We have also made more than reasonable efforts since our founding to clarify our independence from The LDS Church.
• We do not use “Mormon” to indicate official connection to The Church, and neither do any of the other hundreds of businesses, non-profits, churches, or operations that use the word.

About Open Stories Foundation: Our mission is to promote understanding, healing, growth, and community for people experiencing or impacted by religious transitions.