LDS Church Sues 'Mormon Stories' Podcast for Trademark Infringement

The LDS Church sued the host of 'Mormon Stories' podcast for alleged trademark and copyright violations.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its IP arm, Intellectual Reserve Inc., have initiated a legal battle against John Dehlin and the Open Stories Foundation—operators of the widely followed Mormon Stories podcast—claiming unauthorized use of church trademarks and copyrighted material. The complaint, filed April 17, 2026, escalates longstanding branding concerns into federal court litigation.

• The LDS Church contends that Mormon Stories uses visual branding and symbols similar enough to the church’s own to create confusion among the public regarding its official status.
• Private outreach in November 2025 and subsequent mediation in early 2026 failed to resolve the dispute. The church had urged the podcast to display a disclaimer clarifying its lack of affiliation—an approach not fully adopted by Dehlin's team per the church’s own account.
• "The church has an obligation to protect its trademarks as unique identifiers to prevent confusion about what is and isn’t official church content," said the LDS Church Intellectual Property Office Manager. Dehlin counters, "We disagree with their allegations of confusion," arguing that making a disclaimer the primary part of their branding is unreasonable.
• Dehlin, who was excommunicated in 2015 for apostasy, has frequently tangled with church authorities—as detailed in news coverage.

This case highlights how major religious organizations are leveraging IP law to reinforce brand boundaries with independent content creators, testing the limits of trademark enforcement and raising novel issues for legal teams advising in the areas of IP, free expression, and religious communications.

Yes, but: Specifics of the alleged infringement and detailed mediation proposals remain undisclosed, leaving uncertainties around the scope of each side’s claims.