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Legal use of the term[edit]

As of September 2007, there have been 29 attempts to register trademarks containing the word "PODCAST" and 8 attempts to register trademarks containing the word "PODCASTING" in the United States. On February 5, 2005, Shae Spencer Management LLC of Fairport, New York filed a trademark application to register PODCAST for an 'online prerecorded radio program over the internet'.[1] On September 9, 2005, the United States Patent and Trademark Office rejected the application. The rejection notice cited Wikipedia's podcast entry as describing the history of the term.[2] However, As of September 19, 2005, several known trademarks capitalize on the term.[3]

On September 26, 2006, it was reported that Apple Computer started to crack down on businesses using the word 'pod' in product and company names. Apple sent a cease-and-desist order that week to Podcast Ready, which markets an application known as myPodder.[4] Lawyers for Apple contended that the term "pod" has been used by the public to refer to Apple's music player so extensively that it falls under Apple's trademark protection.[5] It was speculated that such activity was part of a bigger campaign for Apple to expand the scope of its existing iPod trademark, which included trademarking "IPODCAST," "IPOD Socks," "POD."[6] On November 16, 2006, Apple Trademark Department returned a letter claiming Apple does not object to third party usage of "podcast" to refer to podcasting services and that Apple does not license the term.[7]


  • In 2005, it was reported that Adam Curry had anonymously edited the podcasting entry on Wikipedia to remove credits from other people and to inflate his role in its creation.[8] The business model of Curry's podcasting network Podshow has since been criticised by many in the industry, and has been accused of exploitative practices in its dealings with independent podcasters.