Hello,

Just came by the unregistered celebrity name .info tld. Is it worth taking the hassle and registering something like that? Celebrity is a p*rn star.

I plan to develop a site, NOT p*rn one, with short bio of the star, few non-nude photos, perhaps some kind of forum. You get the idea...

What I fear the most is the possibility to get a C&D email few hours after the registration.

What do you think?

Thank you!!!

You cannot have C on you surname? Or name?
But do you want to sell it latter of planning to make cash from adds?

You cannot have C on you surname? Or name?

How's that? I don't understand...

But do you want to sell it latter of planning to make cash from adds?

Both.

Thanks!

It's pretty much up to your morality on these choices. You already know that you will be cybersquatting. The C&D letter could come anytime.

You cannot put copyright on your name... (exept "victoria"? ;) ) So, your idea is blessed
:)

You cannot put copyright on your name...

I don't know about the copyrights, but the guy who owned hillaryclinton.com was forced to release the domain (although billclinton.info is parked at sedo quite successfully :) )... Names CAN be copyrighted, I think nevertheless. Although the p0rnstar I'm speaking about hasn't done this, at least in EU.

The 1999 US anti-domain hjacking act treats personal names the same as a trademark...so you would lose at UDRP....so get it up (no pun intended) put on ads get as much $$ out of it as possible before that inevitable & fateful day.

The 1999 US anti-domain hjacking act treats personal names the same as a trademark...

Thank you, Virginia.

Well, I am not under US jurisdiction, so US laws aren't for me... The girl under question isn't from US as well. So I am more interested about EU law and consequences of this cybersquatting.

Thanks!

We can't give you any good legal advice other than to consult a solicitor :)

One of my fave and valuable articles comes into play:

http://gigalaw.com/articles/2000-all/hoffman-2000-09-all.html

the real issue in the case was whether the actress had any trademark rights in her name. She did not have a registered United States trademark (which is not required under the UDRP but is required under the ACPA) but alleged instead that she had common law trademark rights because her name had acquired a "secondary meaning." Secondary meaning is a legal term meaning that although a name (whether a personal name as in this instance or a product or service name) or a design is not a registered mark, the public has come to associate that name or design with a particular person or company or goods or services. This term is usually applied in situations where the mark or claimed rights have been in use for a period of time and have been widely disseminated and used in such a way so as to create this reference in the minds of the public. If the claimant establishes this "secondary meaning," the issue then is whether the use by another in a particular context would be likely to cause confusion in the minds of the public that a particular use is related to the owner of the secondary meaning (referred to as "passing off").

The porn celebrity can use UDRP as a first option. But that celebrity has to prove
trademark rights first.

Now here's a possibility one seasoned attorney gave: the complaining party can
file suit in their jurisdiction, win, then try enforcing it on the other party in another
country using whatever agreements the 2 countries have. However, the other
party can try to prevent the ruling from being enforced.

I've yet to hear or read anything of this sort to a domain name, but there's always
a first time.

If the registrar is US based can a trademark settlement/suit be passed on to them even of the other parties are outside of the U.S.?

If the registrar is US based can a trademark settlement/suit be passed on to them even of the other parties are outside of the U.S.?

All the suit can do, at the very least, is order the registrar to transfer the name to
the complainant. How the complainant will secure damages from the registrant is
their problem. :D

But if you mean can someone sue the registrar, sure. Only question is if they'll win,
given they've got to prove material damages.

If the registrar is US based can a trademark settlement/suit be passed on to them even of the other parties are outside of the U.S.?

Yes. I agree with davezan. They can go after the registrar and the hosting company if they're US based. Most likely scenario would be they file and win a URDP case and then your hosting company might shut you down and the registar will give them your domain. I have no idea whether they'd get any damages from them, tho.