Christian company ignites ‘insane’ battle after trademarking ‘worship leader’

A Christian company called Authentic Media registered the phrase "Worship Leader" as a trademark with the U.S. government in 2016 — and is now sending cease and desist letters to anyone using that phrase, despite it being a common job title used by churches and people of faith, reported Relevant on Friday.

"The company owns an organization called 'Worship Leader,' which offers tools and resources to worship lea— um, we mean leaders of worship," reported Emily Brown. "'We literally coined the phrase ‘Worship Leader,'' the company claims on their website. However, the company has just recently begun to pursue legal action against anyone using the phrase. In June 2022, Authentic Media posted a detailed explanation of why they are beginning to protect their trademark."

“Owning and managing our trademark is part of stewarding the mission that God has laid on our business, and we take that very seriously,” they wrote. “Most recently, with the passing of our founder and the new partnership that we formed, we’ve been a bit behind, but we’re now getting caught up and plan to continue to defend our trademark, as we have for decades.” The company added that for anyone else who wants to use the name, “God has so much creativity that you can lean in on your own gifting and come up with your own name.”

One recipient of the litigation, according to Church Leaders, is Scot Leonard, a worship director who goes by "Rogue Worship Leader" on social media, suddenly found his Facebook page suspended for "trademark infringement."

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“The company Worship Leader is essentially reporting me for violating trademark laws because I have the term, ‘worship leader,’ in my name,” Leonard said on Instagram. “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.”

The trademark system has sometimes been used in ways widely criticized as frivolous. Per a recent report, former President Donald Trump even toyed with the idea of trademarking the term "Rigged Election," in the immediate days after his 2020 loss.