i have found a .org that i want to buy and supply email from and maybe start a small forum on..

say for example the subject is lawnmowers (just an example)

i looked at the .com and .net sites of the same name and they are both owned by the same company which hosts a forum (pretty popular as well).

the domain name is a made up word.. they have no info about copyright on there page apart from at the bottom it says..

domainname owned by therecompany ltd

will i be ok with the .org?

if its not a trademark or copyrighted i'd say its ok to own it.

if you really need a legal advice contact a lawyer who knows more into those issues :)

Originally posted by joec
i have found a .org that i want to buy and supply email from and maybe start a small forum on..

say for example the subject is lawnmowers (just an example)

i looked at the .com and .net sites of the same name and they are both owned by the same company which hosts a forum (pretty popular as well).

the domain name is a made up word.. they have no info about copyright on there page apart from at the bottom it says..

domainname owned by therecompany ltd

will i be ok with the .org?
By starting a forum on the same or a similar topic (e.g. lawnmowers), you are competing with the company that owns the .com and .net website(s), which is NOT the cleverest idea, and would sooner or later get their attention and possibly legal action.

Domain names have nothing to do with copyrights but TRADEMARKS. And not having any REGISTERED trademark doesn't mean that they are not protected; on the contrary, COMMON LAW trademarks are well protected in many jurisdictions.

The fact that it is a "made-up" word actually makes things worse. If it is a generic word, you may get a better chance of defending.

Just my two cents.

Whatever you create is copyrighted. You don't have to say its copyrighted to make it copyrighted. My opinion is that you should find another domain.