Is it save to use brand names in domain names? It would obviously be about their product itself.. Say for example.. applereviews.com the site would consist of all apple product reviews.. Any copyright / trademark / legal issues?
It's a tough call because each company is different and protects their trademark in different ways. Where one company may welcome a site like that as it promotes their product, another company will say no way! An example - without naming the manufacturer. I set up a site for a client that sold exclusively the manufacturer's line of products. Nothing else - just their products and that's it. Buying directly from that same manufacturer (because it was a large retail web site, they dealt directly), you'd think the manufacturer wouldn't care that their manufacturer name was in the domain name as manufacturer-products.com. But within 30 days of launching the site to complement their brick and mortar store, the manufacturer stepped in with their legal team and asked for a cease and desist on the domain. Not only that, they gave 14 days for control of the domain to be passed over to them or risk legal action. Why? Because the name was trademarked and it was infringing on their rights. They had no problem with the site itself - just the domain name. If your site makes no money what so ever, and I mean not even from advertising, adsense, etc - then you could claim the use of the company name under fair use. However, trademarks exist for a reason and if that company steps in and says you are infringing, there is not much you can do.
Using any brand name in a domain when talking about their product is going to be trademark infringement. I wouldn't do it unless you have obtained express permission - which is almost never granted. Even if your site wasn't monetized in any way, a claim of fair use doesn't prevent the trademark holder from suing you and forcing you to spend huge sums of money to argue your defense.
Quite a lot of people are asking about these things. My advice is always, stay out of trouble and do not register any trademarks as a part of your domain. All your efforts etc. , like ranking + + +....will be wasted if you have to get rid of it.
I had a domain taken from me for trademark infringement and I had never even heard of the company! It is a huge hassle and now I am making sure that all of my domains are "public".
In the real world, I would agree with mjewel, as you may have to endure some hassles when using a brand name in your domain. Technically however, nominative fair use does allow you to do it, as long as you do it properly. There are several elements that need to be present when claiming nominative fair use as your reason for the site. I got a C&D letter for a trademark infringement, spoke with a trademark lawyer for 15 minutes, made some very small changes to the content on my site and everything was okay. Learn about how you need to structure the site from the beginning and you won't have to deal with hassles later.