How can I legally make money from a Celeb's name Domain?

Like I said in this thread: http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=1418510

I own the domain name of a celeb. eg. "FirstnameLastname.com"

How can I profit from it without being sued? Park it? Make a page/blog about the celeb with tons of ads? Redirect it something that is related to the celeb eg 'Get Rich' guides to get commission?

I hope to sell this domain eventually (preferably to the celeb himself) but don't want them suing me to get it for free.

 

Just make a blog out of it and get fresh updated content each day. Make sure you make it known that the blog is not an official "name" site.

 

So I can talk about the CELEB without liability? Make it an unofficial fan site blog?

Even if I put ads on it, and a little ad saying that the site is for sale?

 

I made 10 of them. Held them for ages. Made money each month. Sold them all last year.

 

Nice. No trademark issues?

Haven't there been cases where people have sued people for Cybersquatting their names?

 

Of course there are possible trademark issues and cybersquatting laws to worry about. The short answer is that you are likely at risk if the site generates ANY income, including running ads, if you operate a site without their permission. You might have an argument if the site was a pure fan site without any income at all - not even hosting costs (and I assume you aren't interested in that).

Just because there are people who say they have done it, doesn't make it legal - it means the celebrity didn't choose to go after them. There are a lot of people who speed in their car, but that doesn't mean it is legal or that you can't get in trouble. There are child porn sites and no one is going argue that they are legal just because they exist.

Trying to sell the site to the celebrity is the last thing you should attempt - it shows bad faith and gives them easy grounds to take the domain in a UDRP action (or sue you).

One of the biggest cases was Madonna taking the .com because the former owner was using the site to profit off the singers name. Had he not used the site in regards to her, then he wouldn't have lost a million dollars plus the domain. A disclaimer isn't going to give you legal protection to prevent them from going after you.

Some celebrities don't care, some do. It's a risk you take if you go ahead with the site. Another potential problem is images of the celebrity which are subject to copyright protection - even if the celebrity doesn't care, they probably don't own the image or the rights to use it - the owner of the image is usually the photographer or their agency and they can sue you for damages.

 

So I'd be the most safe parking it with some ads from Namedrive, and having a 'This website is for sale' on it?

 

That's actually...worse.

If the celebrity in question has established trademark rights to his/her name,
which registration isn't required in order to exist, then you risk losing the name
or worse if you especially made any money off it.

Trying to sell it to them, putting ads, having a 'for sale' sign, all of them show
an attempt to make money off it. Especially if it's a .com, trademark holders
do have a means to hold them liable for that.

As mjewel said, some take action while others don't. Unless you have some bit
of 'permission' from the celebrity in question, there is no 'safe' way of making
money off a domain name-celebrity namesake.

Sucks but...we don't always get to do the things we want.

 

LOL then what the hell am I supposed to do with it? Redirect it to a Clickbank product?

 

become a celebrity yourself and use your name? Seriously though there is no legal way. Unless you get permission there will always be a legal question

 

What if the person has not trademarked their name?

 

Doesn't matter. Its still their name. Unless its a stage name they haven't legally changed.

 

Incidentally if the are famous enough you might try selling it to them (along with web services so you are not just coming across as a squatter). I don't agree that it shows bad faith. Its all in how you approach it. If you say I want $5000 for the name then yeah you coudl be sued but if you say you reserved it for them and just need t cover administrative charges ($50-$100) then I don't see the issue. Then your a web service provider to a celebrity!

 

What if I just have a blank white page,
that says

For Sale. Contact if interested.

 

No that screams - "I am a squatter".

 

So there is absoloutely nothing I can do.

 

It can matter, actually. One can't claim trademark infringement if one doesn't
have a trademark.

OTOH, if both parties are especially in the U.S., one can claim under a certain
law called cyberpiracy protection for individuals. Just search it in Google.

Trying to make money off it, anyway. Maybe you'll get lucky, maybe not, but
no one has a flawless crystal ball predicting the outcome.

 

I have at least 100+ domain names that are exact names of celebrities. Not once has anyone asked to get one of the domain names.

Your mileage may vary.

 

A legal name is still a legal name. I mean if you buy britneyspears.com and your name is Tom brown you are not going to win that case.

 

What if I make it a fan site with no ads/ or offers for sale?