I know someone who had a person site up, under his name. It was another company who put the site up and hosted it for him. The domain name is also under their name. Well, they just screwed him over, and stopped paying him. So now they are cashing in on his name, his site (though they created it), his products, and all the traffic he built himself... they didn't do anything for him. And they were taking 50%, so now they are taking 100%.

There must be something illegal with owning a person's real name?
Anything?

Unfortunately it's hard (maybe even impossible) how one can prove s/he has much
greater rights than the domain name's current registrant. The only acceptable and
reasonable "metric" we've got so far is proving trademark rights.

Certain individuals can prove trademark rights, specifically "secondary meaning".
But this applies mostly to celebrities (i.e. entertainment, sports, political, etc.) due
to their name recall.

So unless that person can prove trademark rights to the domain name in any way
possible, that person has no choice except to either buy the name back or move
on.

Domain names have taken on such complex social and legal implications that many
parties are willing to fight tooth and nail and use whatever applications are on
hand to wrest control and ownership from their respective registered owners. But
it's a work in progress, and it won't be easy.

Unfortunately it's hard (maybe even impossible) how one can prove s/he has much
greater rights than the domain name's current registrant. The only acceptable and
reasonable "metric" we've got so far is proving trademark rights.

Certain individuals can prove trademark rights, specifically "secondary meaning".
But this applies mostly to celebrities (i.e. entertainment, sports, political, etc.) due
to their name recall.

So unless that person can prove trademark rights to the domain name in any way
possible, that person has no choice except to either buy the name back or move
on.

Domain names have taken on such complex social and legal implications that many
parties are willing to fight tooth and nail and use whatever applications are on
hand to wrest control and ownership from their respective registered owners. But
it's a work in progress, and it won't be easy.

Thanks.
I just figured since it's someones actual name, an unique name, that the owner couldn't really prove, or have a reason to have the domain name.
Oh well, what can ya do I guess.

Thanks.
I just figured since it's someones actual name, an unique name, that the owner couldn't really prove, or have a reason to have the domain name.
Oh well, what can ya do I guess.

Indeed. But when you register a domain name, you don't have to prove anything
to anyone except if (knock on wood) it reaches dispute.

Davezan is pretty much correct here, although, depending on how much money is at stake, it might be worth the few thousand dollars to force the matter into mediation through ICANN rules (see http://www.icann.org/udrp/udrp.htm ).

Your friend might be able to take the matter up in a local court and represent himself for a lot less. (Small claims court comes to mind - but usually only involves monetary judgements - they usually do not issue judgements of specific performance.)

Good Luck! ;)

Well, if the domain name is closely coupled to his name or company, he may have a case, at least with ICANN, like 4solutions mentioned.

From http://www.icann.org/udrp/udrp-policy-24oct99.htm:

c. How to Demonstrate Your Rights to and Legitimate Interests in the Domain Name in Responding to a Complaint.

[edited for brevity...]

(ii) you (as an individual, business, or other organization) have been commonly known by the domain name, even if you have acquired no trademark or service mark rights;


Hope it turns out well. It's always very unfortunate when things have to go this far. Has he tried settling things with that company directly?

The domain is his actual name. Not a common name. I'm sure he's tried to work something out with them, but they are screwing him right over. He's a model, and it's a site about him, wtih membership. And they made the site and took the money, and took 50% of profits. And he said they got greedy, and wanted more, so they cut him right off. So now they are still accepting memberships, but taking 100% profits.
Who can he contact?
It's a US company, and he is in Canada

I am afraid you can do nothing. Basically, it is like you were working for somebody without a contract and any evidence you were hired!? He may pretend for the domain name, but not for the profits that come out of the site.

Let me ask you, why would you work for somebody without any contractual obligation?

The best solution for your friend would be to contact an attorney that is in the same city as the company is located. At the minimum, have the attorney send a cease and desist letter to the company to stop using the person's name and image and to turn over the domain name to your friend.

Since he is a model and uses his name and image for commercial purposes, he actually should have a better case than if a regular joe like you or me tried to get our firstnamelastname.com back from someone.

I'm not an attorney, but it seems to me that just for improperly using his image and name (assuming they do not have a model's release or other agreement allowing them to use his name and image) the company who stole your friend's name and website could be looking at some hefty statutory fines for copyright infringement at the least. There could also be possible criminal charges for theft and/or embezzlement, depending upon what your friend could prove and what the original agreement was between the two parties.

If your friend does nothing, and this website becomes wildly successful, then he could possibly lose the right to use his own name and even image for other commercial projects (although not a perfect match for this set of facts, the case of Famous Amos cookies comes to mind).

A good site (with lots of links to other good sites) for U.S. copyright law is Stanford's Copyright & Fairuse website: http://fairuse.stanford.edu/

At the VERY least, your friend should send his own Cease and Desist letter to the company specifically stating that the company should stop using his name and any photos or images of him. Your friend should state that he is the copyright owner of his photos and that this company is using them in violation of U.S. and Canadian copyright laws. Furthermore, he maintains a valid common law service mark on the use of his name and image for commercial purposes and demands the return of his domain name.

Kind of a crappy sample Cease and Desist letter is here: http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/contract/cease.htm

Best of luck! ;)

If he's a model, I assume the site is about him, or at least has some material on him. If so, there has to be something that can be done because there's no way one person can make money off another person without some kind of agreement. I'd definitely tell him to speak to an attourney.

Who can he contact?
It's a US company, and he is in Canada

I don't recall the exact URL, but google Zac Muskovitch. One seasoned attorney I
know confirmed he's very good.

I don't recall the exact URL, but google Zac Muskovitch. One seasoned attorney I
know confirmed he's very good.
Thank you!!!
Has been a great help already, and returned my email within 20 minutes... saturday morning!

I would do a easy name that isn't taken

thats just wrong.