Globe: What happened to rock radio in Boston?

[Karen McTrotsky]

Whoa.  I can understand Globe scribes, who know nothing about  radio,
talking about the "intellectual property" of WFNX, but radio people should
know better.

Other than logos, trade marks or service marks, WFNX has no intellectual
property. And what they got, nobody needs to do exactly what they did in
the way they did it.

The call letters?   They aren't a service mark. They get changed, they're
up for grabs. q.v. WCOZ, WROR, WMEX

The music library? You really think courts are going to allow someone to
litigate the playing of music properly licensed by the rights owner?

WFNX has nothing of value in the realm of intellectual property other than
service marks and three days on the air with a new set of slogans renders
that useless.

I am unaware of any instance in which the songs licensed by others and
played on a radio station has been elevated to the level of an original
composition engendering copyright protection but would welcome a citation
to caselaw to the contrary.

Pretty sad to see this commentary from people who should know better..



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Donna Halper <dlh@donnahalper.com>
To: Bob Nelson <raccoonradio@mail.com>
Cc: Boston Radio Group <boston-radio-interest@lists.BostonRadio.org>
Date: Sat, 26 May 2012 16:27:47 -0400
Subject: Re: Globe: What happened to rock radio in Boston?
And in that Globe article, it repeats the same assertion about Mindich
owning the call letters:  "Stephen M. Mindich, chairman and chief executive
of Phoenix Media/Communications Group, which sold WFNX, retained the
station’s intellectual property, including its call letters and music
library. He sold the license to broadcast at 101.7 FM, which means the
station could relaunch elsewhere."