does anyone own domain with celeb names in I have several soccer players domains and im worried there going to get taken off me anyone know where i stand legally
I think it would depend on the celebrity and the content that you post. If you own just the name, like georgebush.com, then the person has more of a "right" to that as it is a representation of them and depending on the legal jurisdiction they may be able to take it from you. But if you have something that is related, like georgebushquotations.com, you are more likely to be able to keep it. (I am not a lawyer.)
ah ok thanx so for instance www. ronaldo .com would be copyright but www.ronaldo videos .com would be ok
But A name should not be copyrightable.. I can also rename myself Ronaldo can't I? A person's name is not a Brand name, though they use it to endorse some brands....
Yves St. Laurent Ralph Lauren Gianni Versace They're names and brands. But aren't they also trademarks? (although being a brand doesn't always equate into a trademark if not used commercially...) To the OP: unless the domain name you have is also your name, you can't use those celebrity-bearing registrations to make money off them. And that's if all those celebrities make money using their names to begin with.
No one can copyright a persons name. Like suppose if this thing is taken up in court and Judges name is " Bruce Wills" then does it means that Judge himself can't have his own name because there is a celebrity with the same name? If we can use some celebrity name to name ourselves then we can also use the same name to register a domain name. One thing more, i know that many member will object that "we are talking about domain names not people names" but example i have given above is something related to it. People can register any name they like but it should not be a brand name or a trademark and if it is then they need to have a permission from the same before registering the domain. Eg: www.adidas .in (or some other extension) will surely get the owner into legal problems as it is a brand name. www.PersonsName.Extension cannot be legally taken away. If their is any law and someone knows about it then please let me know cause till date i dont think there is any. Regards, World_Peace
if your name was 'bruce willis' and you had the domain brucewillis.com and had a site about fishing, the there would be no problem, however if your site was about the bruce willis, and used their material, then you would have problems.
http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/search/overview/index.html#16 http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode15/usc_sec_15_00001125----000-.html http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode15/usc_sec_15_00001129----000-.html Note: the first one I stated above isn't a law, but a contract term you agree to with the registrar. The others are parts of U.S. laws, and this isn't including other possibly applicable laws in other jurisdictions depending on the type of dispute. But if any of you folks think a personal name can't have legal issues, then you ought to be ready to be disappointed.
It's ok to have domains with other words in it.. The main name should belong to the person who owns it.
If it's a fan site 9 times out of 10 most people could care less. Think about it, if you made it big enough where people want to make websites about you wouldn't you be excited? If it's a site that talks trash about them then you might have some problems.
Except if it starts infringing another party's rights. While the trademark holder doesn't have absolute rights over their mark for any other words, neither does does the registrant over their domain registrations for anything else.
that should be ok because if i was called bob joe and someone got a domain bobjoe.com i would not be able to do anything because there are 1,000 's of bob joe 's around
I'd check every resource you can pull on the subject with law's in the United States or any other country applicable. You could also just find a lawyer/attorney and get in touch with them about the matter and see what it is you are able/unable to do in any situation, they'll know the law much closer than most.
Or seemingly making money out of it. True fan sites hardly make money except if they have express consent from the celebrity or so in question.