Hi, I have a few questions regarding domain name registrations. 1. If someone has there name Trademarked/Copyrighted does that mean you can't register it and if so what should you do ? e.g. Minecraft-tricks.com ... 2. Most safest method of transferring domains Thanks, UK-Gaming-Products
1. You can register but potentially you may get sued and domain name will be taken away from you. 2.For large amount transactions, escrow.com is the safest way to transfer domains to another party.
You can register copyrighted domains if you use it for something totally different from the brand or person the name is copyrighted to. For example, if you register jonbonjovi.net and use it for selling health articles instead of bon jovi songs then there is little chance that they can get the domain name back from you. Also, if your site is promoting bon jovi but is a complete non-profit site then still they cannot take it away from you. However, these laws do not apply to leading brands especially banks. I know this for a fact since I have 100 odd so-called copyrighted domains and 1 got taken away recently because it was linked to Charles Schwab even though I was not even using the domain at that time. To answer your second question - the safest possible way to transfer domains is via sedo escrow. They charge a small 3% fee for the service and is well worth it.
Because domain squatting usually falls under Copyright Law, the usual Fair Use exceptions apply. Keep in mind though that the organizations that manage domain names are all public and therefore have their own domain resolution policies if a complaint is filed. So they can take it, but they'll usually give it back if your website is one of the above exceptions. As far as Trademark Law goes, again, you can own the domain as long as you fall under a Fair Use exception:
If you owned the domain prior to the copyright then you are fine. If not, don't register the domain because you will have to hand it over if there is a current copyright.
Ah ok, But how do sites such as - www.mw3forum.com www.macworld.com www.www.xboxscene.com/ etc. There are so many domains contain the 'WORD' that is copyrighted then include it with another word such as topiphonenews.com/...
Yes, Users did it before like Facebook...Users brought name facebookgames(dot) com and they getting tons of traffic in their websites.
Usually if they are not using the companies name but just the product name they don't get bothered. Its still not worth it in my opinion though.
Registering a trademarked domain is very risky. Not only can the company take it from you after you've invested blood, sweat, and dollars developing it -- but you can also be fined upwards of $10,000 for violating trademark rights. Many domain owners who are cybersquatting on trademarked terms (which is not the same thing as legitimate domain investing) seem to be getting away with it. But, from time to time, big companies reach out and sue several hundred domain owners at a time, after years of gathering evidence to use against them. It's not worth it. If in doubt, look up the term on Trademarkia or another site to see if there is an active trademark in the same industry your developed site would inhabit. Unfortunately, even owning a generic domain prior to later trademarked use does not always prevent the domain from being confiscated by the trademark holder. There are many UDRP cases where a business essentially robs someone of a domain that had been owned years before they trademarked an overlapping term. Over time, I expect these cases of reverse domain hijacking will disappear.