PDF: Courier Order

Since 1991, John Edwards has been part of the Chattanooga Courier newspaper, starting as an advertising salesman and reporter/editor. For several years, he’s called himself publisher.

But for now he’s not allowed to publish the black-owned newspaper under its long-held name. As of April 25, the paper is called “A Rose is Still A Rose.”

A battle, which has a hearing today in federal court in Chattanooga, has arisen over who owns the paper and the name Chattanooga Courier.

“We’re still who we are,” Mr. Edwards said. “We’re still the same people committed to building the best African-American newspaper that we can.”

Earlier this month, Meekhal Davis, CEO of Nashville-based Pride Publishing Co., which for more than 15 years worked with Mr. Edwards in the production of the Courier, filed a restraining order against Mr. Edwards’ use of the newspaper’s name.

Mr. Davis also started publishing a newspaper called the Chattanooga Courier in September 2007, and he asserts that only he has the legal rights to the name.

“From at least January 1, 1990 to the present date, Pride Publishing has continuously and exclusively used the mark Chattanooga Courier in connection with the operation, production, printing, publishing, and distribution of its Chattanooga weekly newspaper,” Mr. Davis said in an affidavit.

According to court papers, Pride Publishing registered the trademark on the Chattanooga Courier name in July 2007.

In the past few months, after Mr. Davis filed a cease-and-desist order against him, Mr. Edwards has been publishing a newspaper called Chattanooga News Courier, which is still a violation of the trademark, Mr. Davis’ affidavit said.

Mr. Edwards said he deserves to use the name.

“We’ve been the face of the Chattanooga Courier for 17 years,” he said. “We took this paper from being a rag to what it is today.”

Mr. Davis declined to comment until after the hearing.

But the case isn’t so much about the paper’s name or who’s been running it for how long, but who actually owns it, said Gary Pulsinelli, associate professor at law at the University of Tennessee.

“This isn’t much of a trademark dispute, but a contract dispute,” he said. “That’s what it’s going to turn on. Whoever ends up with the business rights will have right to the trademark.”

From 1991 until 2000, Mr. Edwards said, he and Dr. Larry Davis, Mr. Davis’ father, operated the Chattanooga Courier together. Mr. Edwards said he was responsible for selling advertising and writing and editing articles in the Chattanooga area while the paper was printed in Nashville.

In 2000, Dr. Davis said he wanted out of the business and offered an opportunity to buy him out for $10,000, Mr. Edwards said. Mr. Edwards said he gave the papers to his attorney, who made some changes before Mr. Edwards returned the papers to Dr. Davis.

Attempts to reach Dr. Davis for comment were unsuccessful.

Mr. Davis’ affidavit acknowledged that there were discussions about Mr. Edwards “purchasing an interest” in the Chattanooga Courier, including use of the name, for $10,000, but the deal was never finished.

Mr. Edwards acknowledged that he never sent any money and didn’t pursue any paperwork toward establishing control of the paper.

“(Dr. Davis) gave me (verbal) permission,” Mr. Edwards said. “He wanted to get it out of his name. After 2000, you don’t see their name in the paper.”

Mr. Edwards said he has operated the paper as a sole proprietorship since 2005, and Dr. Davis has never expressed a problem with it.

“I was going to start my own company. I had incorporated the Chattanooga Chronicle,” Mr. Edwards said. “He (Dr. Davis) asked me not to do it. He said he was going to offer me a deal I could not refuse. He told me to register everything in my name as a sole proprietor. I paid the taxes on the business for the next eight years. I thought that would establish that I was the owner.”

In his affidavit, Meekhal Davis tells a different story.

Mr. Edwards was never a true business partner in the publication of the Courier and instead was only an independent contractor hired by Pride Publishing from June 1992 to August 2007, according to the affidavit.

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