MySpace Cease and Desist Notices

I noticed that MyspaceSupport.com has a prominent message stating they're not associated with MySpace. Though it's funny that they have a "just for fun" message and still show adds. I wonder if MySpace allowed them to keep the name as long as they had the notice.

 

The above quote is taken from an email received by mspacesupport.com and it was like 5 months ago. If they asked them to put the site down within 5 days Why is it taking them 5 months to shutdown. I can see all those websites that received similar emails are still live

 

5 days is a standard legal request. If a site doesn't comply, they can begin the legal process, which can include going to ICANN, filing a lawsuit to seek a court order, recover damages, and treble legal fees. A suit can take years to work its way through the courts, but in the end, the loser is going to have some serious legal fees to pay.

 

Who owns it? There is actually 3 companies that have valid trademark on myspace, 2 in states and 1 in Sweden.
The one that covers the myspace site is only for dating and Internet community. The other one is for furniture and the one in Sweden for data processing.
There is no trademark that is universal for all countries or for all branches.

 

The only trademark that we are talking about is "MySpace" the portal - and they certainly own the exclusive rights when it comes to sites that carry content related to theirs. Even the other "MySpace" trademark owners cannot use the name for content related to the MySpace portal. There are many companies who have broad protection of their trademark in all classifications - IBM for example. You don't need to have a registration in every classification - or any for that matter, to own the rights to a name.

 

That is exactly what I meant. Having myspace in domain name is not a infringement by itself, as long as you don't use it in relation to their portal.
This is the issue that seems a lot of posters here are confused about.

 

So this means that those websites decided to see myspace in court. Well if thats the case then they surely made the wrong decision. I would redirect my domain to a legal domain instead of getting sued.

 

Why are we still allowed to register myspace domains then? It's incredibly stupid. You register it and then get a letter 2 weeks later and you lost £10.

Would this still count: www.sammyspace.com ?

 

Actually what is incredibly stupid is registering a domain with "myspace" in it.

 

You can register a domain with name myspace-myspace-myspace.com and use it as long as you don't use it in anyway related to their web site. Make a site about politics in Asia, Make a site about paintings,.... and you will be fine.

 

What about tag worlds ads? Tired of MYspace? come to tag world or whatever lol What about them?

 

Sorry for double post but I also noticed that myspace doesnt even own myspace.net or myspace.org or even myspace.info what is up with that? why dont they go after them lol. instead they are going after people that are helping them That is funny!

 

Read thru the thread and you'll find the answers.

 

So how do you get around using MySpace on websites and in domains?

URL forwarding or what?

 

You don't use "MySpace" in the domain name if your content is going to be related to the trademark holder.

 

Sorry if this was already said, but I honestly didn't read the full thread. But to summarize what you're seeing with these cease and desist notices:

1. Technically, under US trademark law, a company must "actively protect" their trademarks. They can lose their trademarks in court if their trademark becomes so commonly used that it's used like a standard noun or verb (for example, Xerox (as in "go xerox this") and Kleenex (as in "do you have a kleenex?") have both had to deal with these battles. In order to protect trademarks, they have to prove that they've at least attempted to go after people who may be in violation.

2. Because of that, companies send cease and desist notices left and right. 99% of the time, a larger company won't actually act on them, because legally there's nothing they can do. They're just creating a paper trail to prove that they're defending their trademark. Unless of course you're really in violation... then you deserve what you get.

3. Domains themselves can't be trademarked, which is one of the main reasons they can't do anything.

4. But the most important reason they can't do anything is that they have no legal grounds. A trademark can only protect them from someone who tries to use the name in the same field to compete with them or to mislead their customers away from them. If your site doesn't directly compete with Myspace, then there's absolutely nothing they can do legally. So the person that registered Myspace.net could use it to make an anti-myspace site (just like myspacesucks.com or such things aren't protected in trademark law and can be used by anyone), or to offer a unique service or product. For instance, maybe they're selling dorm products to college students for their rooms. The name would be applicable, and Myspace can't do a thing about it.

So long story short... don't freak out if you get a cease and desist order. Unless you're doing something to mislead their customers away from them and to you, they're essentially just blowing smoke because they have to create that paper trail showing they're attempting to protect themselves.

Jenn

 

awesome post jenn.

do you have a website or an article I can read about this.

thanks a ton! great sites btw...

alejandro

 

Domain names can be trademarked (service mark) under certain circumstances.

Word Mark BUY.COM
Goods and Services IC 035. US 100 101 102. G & S: Online retail and wholesale store services featuring a full line of consumer goads, namely, computers, books, videos, software, games, audio cassettes, compact discs, other audio-media related merchandise, toys, office and school supplies, household appliances, surplus goods, sports equipment, and electronics; online ordering services featuring a full line of consumer goods, namely, computers, books, videos, software, games, audio cassettes, compact discs, other audio-media related merchandise, toys, office and school supplies, household appliances, surplus goods, sports equipment, and electronics; online distributorship services featuring a full line of consumer goods, namely, computers, books, videos, software, games, audio cassettes, compact discs, other audio-media related merchandise, toys, office and school supplies, household appliances, surplus goods, sports equipment, and electronics; providing an online searchable computer database in the field of consumer merchandise; and dissemination of advertising for others via an on-line electronic communications network. FIRST USE: 19981115. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19981115

 

Not "quite" true. A domain name can never be trademarked, at least not in the US. www.yourdomain.com cannot be a trademark, simple as that.

What you have in the example you gave is Buy.com (not an actual URL). It's protected, because it's the actual business name. If they somehow let their registration lapse, and someone else registered www.buy.com and started a different kind of service there, Buy.com (the company) has no right to the actual domain name, because the domain itself isn't trademarked. It would be the same if McDonalds lost their domain to someone who happened to have that last name and wanted to promote their business portfolio or something. It's tough luck for them. Trademarks don't give you the automatic right to a domain... ever.

Jenn

 

Thanks. Actually, I'll be discussing a lot of these tax and legal issues on AIA's Small Business site, which I'm currently planning and creating the initial content for. Copyright / Trademark will be a big issue covered - mostly because my work with writers and musicians has forced me to work in these areas quite a bit. But that site won't likely be live for at least a few weeks, and possibly not until after the summer, depending on my general client load. But if you have suggestions or questions along these lines, feel free to ask, and maybe I'll even turn them into FAQ-style articles once the site's live.

Jenn