Westwood One Gains Ground in Skirmish Over ‘Pirate Radio’ Tag

Westwood One, the owner of KQLZ-FM, which has dubbed itself “Pirate Radio 100.3,” has won a round in its battle to keep piracy off the air waves.

Attorneys for Westwood One recently sent letters to several radio stations asking that they refrain from using the slogan pirate radio , which they say was coined by KQLZ program director and morning deejay Scott Shannon.

Four stations that used the term pirate when identifying their stations have responded by discontinuing use of the moniker, said Westwood One spokeswoman Katie Garber.

Jacor Communications Inc., which owns WEBN-FM in Cincinnati, WYHY-FM in Nashville and WFLZ-FM in Tampa, agreed to drop the slogan as of Friday. WHTQ-FM in Orlando has also agreed to stop all its references to “Rock ‘n’ Roll Pirates.”

WIOQ-FM based in Philadelphia also received a letter from KQLZ asking it to stop using pirate radio , but the station is continuing to use the name and does not intend to stop, according to program director Mark Driscoll, who said that no one owns the term pirate.

Meanwhile, radio moniker wars continue locally with KFI still trying to determine under what circumstances it can call itself “talk radio.”

Last week U.S. District Court Judge Richard A. Gadbois issued a preliminary injunction pending the outcome of a trial, stopping the radio station from using the slogan in conjunction with its call letters. The judge ruled that until the suit is decided later this year the label belongs to KABC, which has used the term for 17 years.

“KFI . . . shall be enjoined pending trial from “using the phrase ‘KFI Talk Radio’ ‘Talk Radio KFI’ or any confusingly similar phrase as KFI’s trade name station slogan,” Gadbois said in his ruling.

KFI filed a motion for clarification Tuesday asking that the judge remove the language “or any confusingly similar phrase” because of its lack of clarity.