Facebook.com threatening to sue me?

It doesn't matter if you are hosted on the moon, a UDRP will take the domain.

 

Aha, well, thanks then. I just asked because it isn't the same with content. You probably know thepiratebay.org. If you take a look at thepiratebay.org/legal, you'll find tons of threatening emails from major companies, yet none of them was able to take anything down. It's pretty provoking that just because it's hosted in Sweden, no one can get close to it. Yeah, they had problems several times as I read at news sites, and there were dozens of attempts to take them down but none succeeded.

Thanks for your reply

 

The Pirate Bay has been under assault for facilitating the trade of copyrighted items.

What we are talking about here is the use of a trademark in a domain name.

Totally different things. The trademark situation is ultimately dealt with by ICANN, the body that oversees all non-country-code domain names regardless of location, and which has a single trademark policy.

Copyright laws vary from country to country and there is no single law governing it worldwide. What flies in Sweden may not fly in Botswana, and vice versa.

 

Trademark...Read The rules man you got owned

 

Try "Customized Facebook is not affiliated with or endorsed by Facebook" or get offshore hosting

 

Check the source of the email to make sure it actually is from facebook. Could be one of your competitors trying to get you off the market. Also do what Anthony suggested and make it clear that your site is in no way affiliates with facebook and it to be used mearly as a referece to customize your facebook profile. I also suggest actually trying to solve this instead of getting offshore hosting.

 

A disclaimer isn't going to do squat when the domain itself is infringing.

Are you reading the other posts? Offshore hosting offers zero protection in a trademark claim.

 

well you should include a statement in your footer (disclaimer) that your site is not affiliated with facebook etc..

 

Dude... send them an e-mail begging for forgiveness NOW!
You don't fuck with facebook mate

 

You can't. If you happen to keep the domain, the best you can do is redirect it to the new domain and try and re-establish your link partners, change your sigs, and social media profiles and article bios.

 

The only time you can get away with it, so to speak is if the site used a name that is quite common in the dictionary. Example : Twitter

You can't use the logo and such of twitter but you can use the word 'twitter' in any form. It is in the dictionary and has been long before the twitter site has ever been established. Case closed.

Kind of like when McDonalds tried to sue another business in Scotland. It was hilarious since this business existed for years and has been before McDonald ever has... they were going after the words: Mc

Now correct me if I am wrong... reason the business in scotland won... haha... there are thousands of Mc's there... it's a common scottish part of a surname lol

The business and these surnames existed for centuries before McDonald's ever came into existence!

 

Twitter is a registered trademark.

You can certainly trademark dictionary words.

"Apple" & "Amazon" are common words, but also protected trademarks. You have to understand how trademark law works - a trademark doesn't mean you always have exclusive rights to the word, it means you have exclusive rights according to the trademark classification.

Using "twitter" in a domain name when it is about their business, is infringement. Whether they will go after anyone in the future is a guess.

I don't know what case you are talking about in Scotland, but in 1996, McDonald's won its case to have a Scottish sandwich shop drop McMunchies as their trading name.

If someone had been using "McDonalds" before the trademark was established, they would likely retain limited rights to usage. What they couldn't do is expand their business to take advantage of the trademark.

It doesn't matter if you are 80 years old and were born with the name of "Ronald McDonald" - you can't open a burger place and call it "McDonald's" or "Ronald McDonald's".

 

i am gonna give up the domain to them...but i got it redirecting to my new domain..so i hope this helps google in knowing - its a 301 perm redirect.

 

I would get rid of the site. Even if someone is screwing with you -- you surely do not want to test the waters on this one. You arguably are creating sufficient confusion between your entity and that of Facebook, and hence the trademark concern. Be very careful.

 

Here's a guy that had bmw in his domain name and got letter from them to take it down.

The strange thing is, there are still tons of domains that still have bmw in them that are still operating and not affiliated with them (like bmwblog.com).

They say it's a gray area.

paschconsulting.com/pressreleases/bmw-warns-against-using-trademark-in-domain-names.html

 

I suggest you let it go, take your site down you just lose few dollar. No need for lawyer cause i think it's not worthed to spend more for lawyer unless your site has a $100,000 business

 

Ask them for $50 compensation which is much cheaper than dealing with you in court.

 

I really don't see a way you can get around it. You're using their trademarked name either way, and if they don't want you using it then tough luck.

 

"facebook" is a trademarked term...register a new domain name and move on

 

transfer the domain to an offshore territory they can't touch and the hosting as well. Then send them an email saying "no thanks!"