Copyrighted Domains

[Taylor Hewitt]

Share with us some of the copyrighted domains you've owned in the past but got away with selling.

I owned PhotoshopTutorials.com but sold it and I never had any trouble with it. Not a bad domain eh?

[Brandon]

Wow, did you really own that? What was the sale price?! You could surely get $500 > for that now-a-days.

But no, I haven't owned any.

[Taylor Hewitt]

Yeah I was a big idiot and sold it for $50.

IDIOT IDIOT IDIOT IDIOT IDIOT.

[M Nabil]

I never owned a copyrighted domain.

I don't think PhotoshopTutorials.com could get you into trouble, Photoshopp.com or something can but not PhotoshopTutorials.com

[Taylor Hewitt]

Trust me - it could.

[Miss Miaow]

Originally Posted by Taylor Hewitt

Yeah I was a big idiot and sold it for $50.

IDIOT IDIOT IDIOT IDIOT IDIOT.

Toink! I wish you sold it to me!

And to answer your question. No, I never owned a coyrighted domain and I don't think I'll ever will.

[Dave Zan]

Originally Posted by Taylor Hewitt

copyrighted domains

That's trademark. And domain names currently can't be trademarked "just like that".

Although the United States Patents and Trademark Office has issued a few trademark registrations for a few domain names, note that a domain name registration and a trademark registration are 2 separate and distinct records. However, a trademark holder may be able to wrest control and ownership of the domain name if s/he can show the registrant has a "bad faith" intent towards the holder's trademark right.

Confused? That's just the beginning, stay tuned.

Disclaimer: I ain't a lawyer. But I ask questions.

[Taylor Hewitt]

Are you serious? That's the opposite of what I learned when I was a member at NamePros. Every time somebody with a domain that contained a company's name in it went and got it appraised, everyone would say "$0" because of the fact that it could get them into legal trouble apparently.

[Dave Zan]

Originally Posted by Taylor Hewitt

Are you serious? That's the opposite of what I learned when I was a member at NamePros. Every time somebody with a domain that contained a company's name in it went and got it appraised, everyone would say "$0" because of the fact that it could get them into legal trouble apparently.

Like I said, that's just the beginning.

A company name doesn't necessarily bestow trademark rights automatically to them. Heck, how to establish trademark rights can be confusing enough depending on whose jurisdiction we're talking here.

In the US, one can acquire a trademark right by demonstrating they're actively using it as a source identifier of goods or service (called a service mark) in question. The keyword here is demonstrate.

It probably so happens that the domain name the person appraised bears a trademarked term that's defended heavily by its mark holder. Thus, the $0 value due to the potential risk.