Previously on the Internet, Apple put the fear of lawyers into podcasters over use of the term “podcast,” sending out cease and desist orders claiming the term was a violation of Apple’s iPod trademark. But one snarky Australian podcaster may have won this battle, and it only cost him a dollar.
Dave Gray, host of The Global Geek Podcast, obviously sort of needed the contested word* for his brand, assumedly established before Apple’s threats. This was a conundrum for all podcasters using the term, and a major topic of discussion at this year’s Podcast and Portable Media Expo.
Life of Dave APPLE LAWYER: You have been found guilty by the elders of the town of uttering the name of our [trademark], and so, as a blasphemer,…
CROWD: Ooooh!
APPLE LAWYER: …you are to be [sued] to death.
CROWD: Ahh!
PODCASTER:
Look. I– I’d had a lovely supper, and all I said to my wife was, ‘That piece of halibut was good enough [to podcast about].’
CROWD: Oooooh!
APPLE LAWYER: Blasphemy! He’s said it again!
In October, Gray sent a letter to Apple CEO Steve Jobs himself, offering to pay a licensing fee for use of the term, along with a check for one dollar.
Here’s an excerpt:
My thinking was to say the word would be worth about one cent each time. Since we say it at least once during the podcast; that should cover a few episodes. Take some out for the use of the term in our name (say 10 cents) and get back to me what the ongoing cost might be.
Us podcasters are pretty strapped for cash and I apologize for the fact that I have not taken into account the exchange rate.
I trust that this is enough to keep The Global Geek Podcast safe from legal action for the time being.
Nearly two months later, Gray received a response from Apple’s Trademark Department:
Dear Mr. Gray,
We are returning your check for $1. Apple does not object to third party usage of the generic term “podcast” to accurately refer to podcasting services. Apple does not license the term “podcast.”
A responsible journalist would have vetted that information with Apple, but as they are notoriously unreachable from the Murdok office, we decided to take Mr. Gray’s word for it whilst satisfying our own desire to make it so. We always did think it was silly to begin with.
Regardless, we think it is officially safe to use the term “podcast.” Podcast, podcast, podcast!
*Podcast was selected word of the year by the New Oxford American Dictionary. The term lost out to “truthiness,” which won the same honor from the American Dialect Society.
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