LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A federal judge has rejected a bid by Kentucky’s largest daily newspaper to block an anti-litter ordinance that limits how its advertising supplements can be delivered.

The newspaper filed the lawsuit after the City Council passed the ordinance in June that requires unsolicited print materials delivered to homes in Jefferson County be placed in specific areas, and not thrown into a front yard or driveway.

The Courier-Journal sought a preliminary injunction to block enforcement on the basis that the ordinance violates constitutional guarantees of free speech and press and imposes potentially excessive fines.

Judge Charles R. Simpson III, however, refused on Sept. 11 to grant a preliminary injunction, finding that “there is little likelihood that the Courier will succeed on the merits of its claims.”

Simpson said in his opinion that delivery restrictions pose only a financial — not a constitutional — challenge.

“Despite the Courier’s protestations to the contrary, the speech in issue here is purely commercial,” Simpson wrote. “Directly or indirectly, the [advertising supplements] are designed to increase Courier-Journal revenues.”

Simpson also said that the ordinance is content-neutral and that the city likely “will succeed in establishing that the ordinance’s restrictions do not curtail any more speech than necessary to accomplish its stated goals.”

The lawsuit will continue.