Today marks our three-year anniversary, and 500th post. It also marks the beginning of a new chapter.
MediaSalt has been replaced with MediaBLEEP, an interim name necessitated by an order to cease and desist. Who knew you could trademark the word “salt?”
We’re going no-sodium
It’s sad but true. A company named Salt Branding owns the trademark for the word “salt,” when associated with media, branding, websites, etc. They felt we were infringing on their trademark and ordered us to shut down.
After several back-and-forths between lawyers, it looked promising we would be able to obtain a co-existence agreement. After all, their clients include Coke, Disney, and Johnson & Johnson, and we simply give free advice to churches and ministries.
Unfortunately, when it was all said and done, they still felt like any use of the word MediaSalt was direct infringement. So, we must shut down.
Knocked down but not defeated
Yes, the whole process over the past several months, from receiving the letter to transferring all of the posts over this weekend, has been one big hassel. Yes, I feel like the small town hardware store that’s forced to close up shop when Home Depot and Lowes move in. However, the show must go on…
- God is in control. God’s will be done.
- You always dread these things, but I’m encouraged about this fresh start. You should be, too. Thank God for that peace.
- There are bigger things in store as we re-group and lay out a strategy that continues to help ministries and churches.
- We still believe “God isn’t bland. The Church shouldn’t be, either.” We’re in this for the long haul.
Moving forward
Thanks for your continued support as we continue on this journey together. We have an awesome community and I pray it only grows through this interim name change.
Again, MediaBLEEP is the temporary name we landed on while we pray through and make thoughtful decisions for the future of this community.
I’m excited about what’s on the horizon. I look forward to the next three years and another 500 posts.
PS. If you have anything bookmarked over at MediaSalt, it will automatically place you on the correct MediaBLEEP page when accessed. Thanks 301 re-directs!
Today’s post was written by Cleve Persinger. Cleve directs web, external communication and community engagement for The Chapel. In addition, he’s Co-Founder of MediaBLEEP and Founder of Creative Missions. Cleve and his wife, Katie, reside in Nashville with their three children.
Cleve .. got your back 100%. It is a sad predicament that MediaSalt must be laid to rest, but I am excited for the new opportunities ahead. On the back of my iPad I have engraved … “Our biggest challenges can become our GREATEST opportunities!”
** kudos on the 301 re-direct as well;glad the simple one line code worked
Thanks Braddo. Glad you’re a part of this. Looking forward to what lies ahead.
Sorry to hear! Good thing a name change doesn’t mean a change in quality content! Keep up the good work!
Thanks, Jesse. I really appreciate that good word.
BTW… We’re big fans of churchwebsiteideas.com.
What is the world coming to when the world “salt” can be trademarked? Simple insanity. I do believe that the conclusion of this will result in more profile, more impact, and a fresh growth spurt for where this site/ministry goes next. I’ll pray for wisdom in the next steps. Blessings on all you do!
Thank you, David. Glad you’re a part of MediaSalt.
We still need to talk about our plans for MediaPepper…
We just ran into the same thing for a project where we couldn’t use the term “superhero”. It was almost a nightmare to have to recreate all of the artwork two weeks before launch and reimplement it across about a million channels.
What about the Periodic symbol? NaCL
lol.
Hang in there!
We thought about that, too, but Chemistry was my worst subject in high school. Why can’t we all just get along and not worry about trademarks?
Can’t wait to see the new improvements moving forward. Here’s an idea: Savor Lost from Matthew 5 – Don’t know if that would be too close. If I think of anything else I’ll keep it to myself. One can only take so many bad ideas.
Thanks, Robert. Stay tuned… I believe the best is yet to come.
Sad face.
But like you said, god has plans in place!
Kudos to you for a brilliant response – MediaBLEEP. Love it.
Thanks, Len. Appreciate that.
thinking out loud, and searching whats available.
churchmediaideas.com?
churchmediafuel.com?
mediarefuel.com?
churchmediafire?
Matt, all of these are taken now. Brad Huss must be reading these posts.
JK Thanks for these suggestions.
I gotta admit I love the name Media Bleep. speaks to me of the growing persecution…
Thanks David, and thanks for reading. It’s growing on us.
MediaSulk?
[...] A favorite site of mine – and one that has published guest posts by yours truly – has become the target of a lawyered up company with trademark claims to the word salt, according to a post on the site formerly known as MediaSalt. [...]
I like MediaBLEEP, but you should have used MediaHalt
Going forward, I bet that MediaWalt would be a safe alternative. Surely no one had trademarked the word “Walt” in a media context.
I am truly disappointed that we overlooked MediaHALT.
Yep, that one slipped through the cracks.
Was Media Pepper taken?
Funny thing… we kicked that one around, but it is taken.
Just as long as you guys are committed to continue being BLEEP and light to the world.
Hahahaha.
How truly sad. Salt Branding is probably trying to figure out why your content was constantly doing better in search engines. That sorta thing happens when you’re up against a total FLASH website. I always laugh when I see a business that supposedly is big into website strategy and their entire site is Flash. They’re also doing a fantastic job of leading by example with their facebook page that hasn’t been updated since 6/25/2010.
Hassle for sure. You guys did a great job transitioning it all. In the end, you’ll probably benefit from it and be able to use it in educating future clients on the process of domain name changes, rebranding and relaunch announcements.
BTW, I like MediaHalt too.
We are all in your corner! We appreciate you and the work you do. Thank you for pressing on!
I like the new MediaBLEEP name… I can’t put my finger on it, but it dove tails nicely with the “in your face-ness” of Church Marketing Sucks. I think that it is really lame that you can copyright a single common word like salt though. Someone could possibly copyright the word “Up” and then my own business Rooted Up would be forced to shut down.
Hi Cleve, Just ran across your blog after a Google search and am glad to have found it. Thanks for the interesting posts. Sorry to hear about the bump in the road. As you’ll see, I’m a part of GoodSalt.com. We’re a religious image licensing company. We aren’t a direct media company, so hopefully we’re safe from them coming after us (don’t tell on us!
We’ve been around for about 10 years now and I assume not hearing from them means we aren’t infringing on their trademark.
Anyway, best of luck with the new branding… I’m sure God’s got it all under control.
Blessings!