A buddy of mine has received a threatening letter from a pack of fancy-talking lawyers. He owns a really nice celebrity domain (FamousPerson.com) and the lawyers representing this celebrity are threatening legal action if he doesn't hand it over by the 26th of this month. Any idea what his next move should be? - Mark
WayneRooney.com was recently returned to Wayne by the UN! If I were you, I'd try and get them to buy it off you for a sensible sum because you are almost guaranteed to lose it for nothing and pay costs if you make them take you to court. I'm not a lawyer and no nothing about the law though
I buy/sell many firstnamelastname.com/net/org/biz/info celebrity related domains. In the past, I have had a few confrontations such as yourself. Tell them to make an reasonable offer on the domain, and you would be happy to sell it to them - most will purchase it from you. Iv had record labels and even some celebrities wanting to purchase their name from me, this has ranged from xxx to x,xxx.
Thanks for the comments; let's hope the UN doesn't get involved here. Asking them to make an offer does seem like the best move, but we've all heard if you do that, then it PROVES you are just trying to make a profit from it, and they can use that against you.
That seems to make plenty of sense to me...so in a way, a person is damned if they do, and damned if they don't! What is a guy to do? 4) ICANN's Paragraph 4(b) Uniform Domain Name Resolution Policy b. Evidence of Registration and Use in Bad Faith. For the purposes of Paragraph 4(a)(iii), the following circumstances, in particular but without limitation, if found by the Panel to be present, shall be evidence of the registration and use of a domain name in bad faith: (i) Circumstances indicating that you have registered or you have acquired the domain name primarily for the purpose of selling, renting, or otherwise transferring the domain name registration to the complainant who is the owner of the trademark or service mark or to a competitor of that complainant, for valuable consideration in excess of your documented out-of-pocket costs directly related to the domain name; or (ii) You have registered the domain name in order to prevent the owner of the trademark or service mark from reflecting the mark in a corresponding domain name, provided that you have engaged in a pattern of such conduct; or (iii) You have registered the domain name primarily for the purpose of disrupting the business of a competitor; or (iv) By using the domain name, you have intentionally attempted to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to your web site or other on-line location, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the complainant's mark as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of your web site or location or of a product or service on your web site or location. What to do, what to do...
Not necessarily. Why else would you register a domain but to make a profit? (unless you are doing it just for fun....) In my cases, they have agreed to pay a sum, and iv never heard any complaints.
Sure, you're right that most domains would be registered with the intention of producing some profit, but I guess these "trademark" scenarios are different because they can be seen (rightly so) as profiting from someone else's good name. This stands out as what they could use if you started negotiating a sale with them. Is that why you ask for THEM to make an offer, rather than saying "give me this amount of money"?
Really depends on if you give them a fair deal, or hold the domain ransom for a high fee. Be fair to them and make a little money on the way. Everyone is happy.
It says: Who says how much you paid for the domain? or the website? or your time? Only you - your not asking for more then the excess of your costs, when you consider everything there is
"consideration in excess of your documented out-of-pocket costs" 1. Documented, means that you can prove it with an invoice or receipt. 2. Out-of-pocket, means money you actually spent. You time, or effort, are specifically not included.
I don't relish correcting people, but I don't like it when they make inaccurate posts without checking or verifying their facts first. The UN does not get involved in domain name matters. Read your registrar's fine print closely. WayneRooney.com was given to the complaining party because they filed and eventually won their "case" through a dispute resolution process, which every domain registrant on earth agrees to upon registering a CNOBI domain name with a domain registrar. Just this once, though, I'll do you a favor: http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/decisions/html/2006/d2006-0916.html Conkster, it's reasonable to assume the complaining party might file a UDRP, if not go to Court. UDRP's designed to resolve this exact kind of thing. What FanAddict suggested is risky but possible if done right and depending on their "frame of mind".