How to dispute registration of a domain name

An actress wants to get the .com version of her name back off someone who has registered it when they saw a few mentions of her name on IMDb - the squatter wants a few grand for it.

From what I can find, the World Intellectual Property Organization is the place to contact over disputes regarding domain names is that right?

What is the cheapest way of getting it back?

 

My advice would be for her to offer the guy 200 bucks now or sue him.

 

1. She never owned it
2. A company that trolls for such opportunities registered it
3. She realised she should register it and discovered it was already taken
4. Now wants the domain name

Mike that was my thought, to offer a small amount - or better still, to have a lawyer offer a small amount in a letter threatening legal action.

 

it's .com (is that what you mean?)

 

Thanks for the info and the prompt replies, as usual DP is the place to find answers from those in the know!

 

come on... who is is it?

Is she really famous? Has she ever worked with Kevin Bacon?

 

Could we find her on Mr. Skin?

 

Not to bring it back up, but check http://digest.com it's about the case of Nissan Motors vs. Nissan. Cases like these can get complicated

 

We ended up just going ahead with the first-last.com version of her name.

Got an email from someone today who registered the .net version of her name without the - as a favour to ensure she can have the name... offering it for $50 (out of pocket expenses).

I'm thinking it would be worth having the .com for the type in traffic but doubt the .net is worth bothering with.

I don't get these squatters... the reward really doesn't sound worth the effort.

 

There is always someone interested in such a domain. Fans or something in that region. And a .net is not the suffix to expect a lot of natural traffic from but it's still a good top level domain.

He would make a $40 profit so it's not much but small heaps turn into big heaps.
Also madonna won the case regarding madonna.com. If the actress in question is quite famous and has a substantial fan base behind her she has a good argument to claim this domain.

The argument would be ''consumer confusion''. The domain in question would be in direct competition with her other domain and she might loose revenue because of this.

 

Thanks Edz. Fan sites are a positive as it's just more buzz around her brand. So long as the official site ranks #1 it doesn't really matter.