Copyright violation?

Is this case a violation of laws?

[quincywisdom]

Hello all, I have a quick question...a couple of weeks ago, I bought www.Example.com, and recently I discovered a webpage (http://example.tripod.com/)
that is using example.com as their name despite the fact that I am the rightful owner, and their domain name is not example.com, but hosted on tripod...Here are my questions:

1) Does owning example.com make me the only person able to use that domain name?
2) Do I have the right to ask them to change their name?
3) If so, what do I do to legally present this to them?

I am amazed that even though they don't own or use the domain, they still use the name...it doesn't make sense...I am thankful for any help.

Thanks
-QW

[edited by: rogerd at 4:57 am (utc) on Mar. 27, 2004]
[edit reason] specifics removed [/edit]

[NeedScripts]

1) Does owning example.com make me the only person able to use that domain name?

No. Unless you hold trademark over the name.
Just because you decided to use certain name, that does not automatically give you right over that name or word.

2) Do I have the right to ask them to change their name?

Yes & No
Not unless you have you have the word "example" (or whatever in question) registered.
Also, remember, false copyright ownership claim can actually backfire, and making false lawsuits threats are also considered illegal.

3) If so, what do I do to legally present this to them?

If you are the rightful owner of the word (not just the domain), then you can send that person a notification (generally it is good to start with request) about his improper use of your registered name. You can also try contacting Tripod, as they are their ISP, under the DMCA law they also share certain responsibility(but they also have safe harbors)

--------------------
Well I am not a lawyer, but there are few things that you might want to look into:

1) Do you actually own that Name? (Not the domain, but the "Name")
2) How generic is the "Name" in question?
3) When did you bought the domain name?
4) How long has the alleged site been active.
5) How long have you been using that "Name" for your business.
6) Is the other domain related to the topic "Name" and is serving genuine purpose, and has been live before you started using the name?
7) If the site has been active before you bought the domain or have been using the "Name", then there is very little you can do.

Like I said before, I am not a lawyer, however if you are very serious about this, then here are few URLs, that might be helpful:

[copyright.gov...]
[eff.org...]
[fairuse.stanford.edu...]
[nolo.com...]

Hope this helps.

Vishal

[attard]

Just to keep things straight, what you would be talking about if someone is using your name is trademarks, not copyright. Names cannot be copyrighted. But they can be trademarked.
--Janet

[rogerd]

Welcome to WebmasterWorld, attard!

[Dan_Norder]

Actually, if they are claiming to be "example.com" and you own example.com, then I would think they are being fraudulent, regardless of the issue of trademarks. They are claiming to be located at a certain address when they are not. This is equivalent to someone claiming to be at 1212 Example Street, Anytown USA when that's your business address. It could confuse customers and make you look bad if they do something stupid.

Of course, having said that, unless they are ranking higher in the search engines, doing something illegal or objectionable that reflects poorly on you, or otherwise has a measurable negative effect on you, I wouldn't worry about it.

[digitalv]

It would be really stupid of someone to use example.tripod.com and claim they own example.com.

With that being said, it's entirely possible that they ONCE owned example.com - that they let it expire, got removed from the registry, and you happened to come along and register it as new, not knowing it had ever been registered before.

One way to find out ... send them a message from a Yahoo/Hotmail account and ask them why their tripod site says they are example.com but example.com is owned by someone else? (Don't say YOU own the domain name). See if they reply. If they don't, it's possible that it's an abandoned site that Tripod hasn't flushed yet.

[NeedScripts]

I think what the first post is trying to say is

1) quincywisdom bought example.com
2) Then noticed that someone is already using example.tripod.com
3) does quincywisdom has the sole right over the use of the word example for domain/subdomain as quincywisdom owns the .com version of the name.

[HarryM]

1) Does owning example.com make me the only person able to use that domain name?

I'm not a lawyer, but in my opinion you own "example.com" but not "example". Someone else could register "example.co.uk" or "example.whatever" as long as it was available and "example" wasn't a trade mark. The same goes for "example" used as a subdomain.

I would do as digitalv suggests and find out if the site is abandoned. If it's not, perhaps the first approach would be a polite email pointing out the confusion. They may be unaware that an example.com exists.

[ccDan]

Another ploy might be to send them a thank you note for all the free traffic they keep sending you.

They'll probably stop claiming to be "example.com" real fast. ;-)

[AlastoR]

Although it might raise the cost a little bit(ekthetically to be honest) the only way to ensure your brand-name won't Ever be "stolen" is to
a)Create a logo for it and register it as a legal trademark.
b)Buy all desired domains covering your needs(and i mean ALL... www.example.com, www.example.gr, www.example.co.uk)
or even similar to your company's productional profile(e.g. www.example-clothing.co.uk).
c)Buy a good lawyers time(if there is one of that kind) to explain you what you can or can't sue when you think your copyright has been intruded.

Next time you do all these,the copyright broker,in order to pay his lawyers, will have to sell their liver to black market. >B}

[Dan_Norder]

The original poster was a little unclear on the situation, so we have half a dozen different answers based upon what we think he or she is asking. I'm pretty sure my reading of it was correct, but I can't guarantee it.

It'd be nice if the poster could clarify it, and nicer if people responding would make it clear what they think they are answering.

And, as a clarification upon a point raised above, you don't have to have a registration on a trademark in order to prevent other people from cybersquatting on it. Common law trademarks (where you can prove you did business under a certain name in a certain field and that customers know you by that name) can be enforced as well, though they are a little more difficult to enforce.

[HarlsenC]

I have a free site dedicated to French writer Albert Camus. I won't give the freehost name but at the paid versions (.com, .net, .fr, .etc) there is an internet design company, a construction company, a cognac distiller (if that's the right phrase) and more.

None of these sites have ever got into contact with me but if they did I'd probably put a small link redirecting lost visitors in the right direction -especially if a bottle of cognac found it's way to me ;)

Infact, I'd probably take the whole thing down for a bottle cognac.

[HarlsenC]

I've just looked at that cognac site and they use the phrase 'the philosophy of camus cognac' to link to their mission statement!

After that gross misuse of the word philosophy I wouldn't take my site down for all the cognac in the world!