For the second time, a DJ in Ohio was sued because he violated his non-compete agreement by doing a show over the internet. Andrew Zepeda worked at WWWM star radio in Toledo Ohio.
It really amazes me how someone can violate their non-compete contract when they worked at an FM station. People who listen to you are in their cars, in their offices, or in their homes. They also have ratings on Nielsen.
Yet if you compare that to the Internet, the only way that people can listen to internet radio is either through a computer or on an internet radio. If your one of the few people like me who has an internet radio, you can listen only inside your home. You can’t take the radio outside unless you have a plug or if you can get a signal from a router. This would be the same as a computer.
Now, if you have a radio, you can bring it outside with batteries and not worry about a signal because you can bring the radio wherever you want. If you want to go to the beach, then you can bring your radio with you.
Maybe the non-compete lawyers can argue that the DJ is competing with the internet version of the radio station. So the challenge will be how many people will listen to Andrew Zepeda on his podcast or how many people will listen to the radio station WWWM on the internet.
It’s a head-shaker. Lawyers go out of their way to say that non-compete agreements are fair and reasonable but once again, we see in this case is that the standards of fair and reasonable apply to a small market at best, a market that cannot be measured and is unrated because no one really knows how many people listen to the internet radio stations on a computer yet we have plenty of evidence as to how many people listen to a radio station.
Yet somehow, we have to protect radio stations from the impact of losing business to radio stations or podcasts on the internet.
Rick Holman
http://www.toledoblade.com/Courts/2013/03/05/Radio-host-Andrew-Z-sues-ex-employer.html
It really amazes me how someone can violate their non-compete contract when they worked at an FM station. People who listen to you are in their cars, in their offices, or in their homes. They also have ratings on Nielsen.
Yet if you compare that to the Internet, the only way that people can listen to internet radio is either through a computer or on an internet radio. If your one of the few people like me who has an internet radio, you can listen only inside your home. You can’t take the radio outside unless you have a plug or if you can get a signal from a router. This would be the same as a computer.
Now, if you have a radio, you can bring it outside with batteries and not worry about a signal because you can bring the radio wherever you want. If you want to go to the beach, then you can bring your radio with you.
Maybe the non-compete lawyers can argue that the DJ is competing with the internet version of the radio station. So the challenge will be how many people will listen to Andrew Zepeda on his podcast or how many people will listen to the radio station WWWM on the internet.
It’s a head-shaker. Lawyers go out of their way to say that non-compete agreements are fair and reasonable but once again, we see in this case is that the standards of fair and reasonable apply to a small market at best, a market that cannot be measured and is unrated because no one really knows how many people listen to the internet radio stations on a computer yet we have plenty of evidence as to how many people listen to a radio station.
Yet somehow, we have to protect radio stations from the impact of losing business to radio stations or podcasts on the internet.
Rick Holman
http://www.toledoblade.com/Courts/2013/03/05/Radio-host-Andrew-Z-sues-ex-employer.html