I own a domain ZumbaDVDs.com. I was contacted by their legal team today. I was assuming it was about my domain name having their business in it, but it was for something different.

Highlight if you cant read below, wont let me change the color for some reason.

This e-mail is from the Zumba legal compliance department. Zumba Fitness, LLC ("Zumba Fitness") is the world's largest provider of dance-fitness programs and related products and offers goods and services under the trademarks ZUMBAŽ and ZUMBA FITNESSŽ ("ZUMBAŽ marks"). Zumba Fitness owns these trademarks which are registered in the United States and in the European Union numbered 008244089, 006712475, 006712434, 006712152 and 004712152. We also own Benelux trademark application no. 1179082. We are committed to aggressive protection of our copyright and trademark rights.

Zumba Fitness is also the owner of several international copyrights for its video and sound recordings. These copyrights include protection of same of our world-famous DVD collections including:


ZUMBAŽ Fitness Basics + ZUMBAŽ Fitness 20-Minute Express

ZUMBAŽ Fitness Sculpt & Tone

ZUMBAŽ Fitness Cardio Party + bonuses

ZUMBAŽ Fitness Total Body Transformation Guide

ZUMBAŽ Fitness LIVE!

ZUMBAŽ Fitness Flat Abs

ZUMBAŽ Fitness Toning Sticks

ZUMBAŽ Fitness, Advance, Power, Beginners, and Abs, Buns and Thighs

We are aware that you are offering Zumba DVDs through your website Zumbadvds.com. Genuine Zumba Fitness DVDs are distributed only by Zumba Fitness and its licensee, Guthy-Renker. There is no other bulk source of genuine Zumba Fitness DVDs. The DVDs that you were offering for sale are unauthorized copies that were either made in violation of Zumba Fitness's copyrights or being distributed illegally. The packaging and labels used for these pirated DVDs make unauthorized use of the ZUMBA FITNESS trademark, logo and packaging design in violation of Zumba Fitness's trademarks, copyrights and trade dress rights. It is unlawful to sell or distribute these Zumba Fitness DVDs or through Zumbadvds.com or any other channel of dis tribution. To avoid further damage to ZUMBAŽ Fitness, Zumbadvds.com must immediately take the following steps to abate its infringement of Zumba Fitness' copyright, trademark and trade dress rights:

1. Zumbadvds.com must immediately cease manufacturing, importing, advertising, displaying, offering to sell, selling, shipping and distributing any DVDs labeled with the trademarks ZUMBA or ZUMBAŽ Fitness .

2.Zumbadvds.commust destroy its entire inventory of the DVDs labeled with the trademarks ZUMBA or ZUMBAŽ Fitness.

3. Zumbadvds.com must cease all used of "Zumba" or any variant thereon as a search term, keyword, website meta tags or on any webpage in the source code for any webpage, as an AdWord or in any other manner whatsoever. Zumba Fitness is committed to aggressive protection of our copyright, trademark and trade dress rights and will carefully monitor your website to ensure that ceases Zumba dvds.com all further sales and distribution of the subject DVDs and pirated materials.

If Zumbadvds.comdoes not comply in full with each of our demands on or before November 8, 2009, we will refer this
matter to our attorneys with instructions that they aggressively pursue all remedies available under applicable law.

Thank you.
Legal Compliance Department
Zumba Fitness, LLC
3801 N 29th Ave - Hollywood, FL 33020
O: 954.925.3755 F: 954.925.3505
W: www.zumba.com

Now everything I sell, I dont really sell from my site, its just a small site referring people to Amazon.com, which as far as I know legally carries a stock of Zumba DVD's, so the implication that I'm manufactering fraudulant copies of these dvd's is false. All I'm doing is sending traffic to my Amazon affiliate link.

They mention briefly I must cease all usage of Zumba in "search terms, keywords, website meta tags, or on any webpage source code or Adsense

What are my options?
What if I remove the word Zumba from all my pages, change the links to "Buy fitness dvds click here" (courtesy of amazon)" take it out of the Title, and any part of my html. Would I be in the clear???

Any help/advice appreciated!

Advertise

Since it's through Amazon I don't think you have anything to worry about, they should take it up with them.

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Let them take you to court a good lawyer will make you a mint.
Then counter sue for slander, deformation of character anything
you can. As long as you'r referring them to Amazon and you arn't
breaking Amazons TOS you have nothing to worry about. It looks
like they didn't do their homework before sending that.

I'd have an attorney send them a letter them you are not the distributor of any DVDs and only advertise for Amazon.com

A good lawyer will also cost you a mint... for a site that makes what?

Tell them you're ordering your DVDs from them and reselling

Thanks for the replies, if you guys have a moment will you please check my site, it's only 3 pages. It makes me a steady 2/day, and it hasn't been indexed long. I think they're threatened because I am ahead of them on google for "zumba dvds" at certain times of the day.

Thanks again

Although you may not be breaking any laws, it is advisable that you chalk this up to a loss. They will be able to pursue legal action based on trademark laws at a civil level. They will likely win and you will lose simply because of the domain you are using uses their trademarked name. End of story, you will be on the wrong side of that one in a courtroom and a good lawyer could cost you a fortune to lose that one. Also, it is not slander or defamation of character to say that someone is using your protected trademark and pursue legal action when you are in fact using their trademark. I would take legal advice from a lawyer and a lawyer only(no offense to people here, but it seems that there is a severe problem with authority from people). That being said, it is a bad idea to fight this.

sue the pants right off those fockers!!

Just email them back and tell them that you are only adveritsing THEIR products through AMAZON, somewher eint heir try to sell them the domain

Send them a reply saying that you are only selling their products as an affiliate through AMAZON. Show confidence in your reply.

And if I would have been in your place I offer them to sell the Domain for a great price What's say?

Yeah agreed with TheTruth, they may just not understand the dynamic. Email to explain you are promoting for them through a channel (amazon) that they obviously approved.

Though if they do understand and just want to control your use of their trademark, I'm with goldengod, do what they say and walk away. Its Guthy-Renker son! They've got more money than satan

Are you for certain it's not one of your competitors pulling a fast one on you?

I can understand somewhat if they feel you have violated the way your selling, by using their trademark name in your domain, like alot of higher up companies.

But it seems a little strange that they would acuse you of selling pirated copies, considering your earning through amazon.

I would try and talk with someone directly to find out for sure where you have gone wrong, if in fact you have, the domain name is the only thing I would think of.

Maybe could even strike a better deal, if you can prove some high volumes and convince them that they need you.

If this was me, I would either:

A:
Do nothing and WAIT until they have spent a lot of time and money
on creating a case which has no merit (see below) because if they
were smart they would have BOUGHT from your site and the second
you put it int he mail, you would be on your way to jail for Mail Fraud.
Criminal charge - supercedes any an all civil remedies available to them.

However, they don't seem to be smart - they obviously did not buy
a DVD from your site, or they'd KNOW you are an Amazon affiliate
AND they did not mention the surrendering of your domain name
nor offer to just buy the site.


B:
Write them and explain that you are simply directing traffic as an affliate
to ensure their fine, first generation products are sold through a reputable
point of sale; Amazon.com and that by your estimation, if all affiliate efforts
were to stop under duress, that would be be a restraint of trade matter.

C: The smart-ass approach.

Hi. Got your letter. Laughed my ass off.
Do you know who is the top Amazon.com affiliate for your products listed there
and who drives all the sales traffic to Amazon.com? Do you know the reason
behind your success through Amazon.com ??? Maybe you should first figure
how much of your yearly income is derived from Amazon.com sales and work
backwards from there to really understand the ramifications of stopping me!

You obviously did not buy a product through my site or you would
see that you are making false claims. All the products are sold
through Amazon.com There is no way to be confused about this
if you had simply tried to buy one - you'd be on the Amazon.com site.
Can you imagine what would go through a judges mind if he were
to duplicate and verify my statement against your false claims?
HE WOULD ADVISE YOU TO READ "Chicken Little"

Because the products available through my site are sold by Amazon.com
you are claiming that Amazon.com is selling pirated copies of your product.
If that is so, it is between you and Amazon.com

If you write me one more letter, I will do the worst thing that anyone
has ever done to you; I will stop promotion of your products and I
can guarantee that as a direct result, Amazon.com will, too!

__________________
"Please can there be nuclear war this year"

do nothing. they are using scare tactics with no grounds upon which to do so.

A trademark is a trademark!
Your CANNOT BE EXEMPTED just because youre selling THEIR PRODUCT
The company has all the right to their trademarked name may it be in a domain or a keyword

Be smart and do not follow the advice of other people here
Believe me its not worth the time and money to mess with big companies
I have been there!
Well you can try and gamble with fate, but in the end, uncertainty is unhealthy

Drop the domain, buy a new one, try to use a keyword-domain instead

__________________

They may be pulling the "unauthorized DVD sales" thing out of their collective legal asses, but, as snowwhite mentioned, you are using their trademark in your domain name in a manner likely to confuse consumers into believing you are somehow affiliated with Zumba. This issue of confusion is the legal basis for trademark infringement; there's no way you can win this one, unfortunately.

If you're up for a little revenge, register zumbasucks.com and sell a competitor's DVDs. Hey, you could still rank for "zumba" if you work it, and you'll get to stick it to the man without being out thousands of dollars in legal fees.

I'm considering first sending an email explaining that I'm simply sending traffic to Amazon. Then perhaps removing the word Zumba from everywhere on my site, meta tags, and title.

At least amazon hasn't banned you (yet?). Don't screw around too much with this though. With a good enough lawyer they could sue you for pretty much anything. Just send them some emails asking for clarification and check if they're really serious.

Now how come they can't sue you for that? Is it like freedom of speech or something? But you're using their trademark!! This justice system is really screwed

create a huge zumba cd's suck site, based on your personal experience, do not buy any zumba product ever,

then send them an email stating you are no longer directing your traffic to an affiliate site that sells thier product.

they can feel free to check and see.

__________________
Tap into a WP blogfarm, get Automated Backlinks OVER 6k sites and growing

I'd pull the domain. It's legal to squat if the site you host isn't related to the trademark and could be construed as an official zumba site. In your case it is so

Interested to see how this pans out. I've made some of these types of cds before custom for a client and was considering putting up a site to sell them using zumba for some of the keywords.
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Explain to them the situation since what you're doing is not illegal as far as I know. They got it wrong, apparently.

I've done dropshiping for a manufacturer that owns their name in every way possible and they do have lines in the sand, even for approved resellers. When I started talking to our sales rep on the phone we went through all of the permutations and they really do decide where they want to promote, and where they want other to do it for them.

For instance: if I was talking about something called howdykitty they'd love it if I had howdykitty categories on my website (and I'd even get bulk discounts). But I could NEVER have a domain that includes the name howdykitty in any variation. Or bid on or buy any PPC keyword phrase that includes howdykitty.

Even though you're completely legit I think they're on solid ground legally. If I was you I'd approach them directly. Tell them you want to promote their AZ listings and ask them what (other) methods are OK with them. Maybe howdykitty.woobly or howdykitty.deadwire is under their radar. There's certainly a web 2.0 way to grab that name and direct traffic without having a top level domain. I'm sure you could put a tab on a woobly page using their name and that would be fine. Just direct your traffic there

But the domain you have now is toast IMO.

They're saying you are pirating their DVDs so just show them that you're using affiliate links and that they made a mistake, then see what they say.

Legally change your name to Zumba.

-Mus

No no change it to Zumba Dvds LOL

I'd vote to be a smart ass. Hi OP, go on try this one out and post the result will ya

Thread subscribed.

I doubt they will sue you. They know they would never get any real money from the owner of a site like that and would end up eating the costs. They will simply file a DMCA request to have your domain taken away from you.

If they are going to take it away for promoting their products and using their trademarked term for making money, switch it up...

Turn the site to a Zumba hate site. They can't do much then, you're just stating your opinion and you're not making any money from it. Put up a bunch of testimonials about how Zumba ruined your life, raped your children and gave your horrible diarrhea.

If you are worried about getting sued, create an account with another web host and registrar using a prepaid visa card and bogus account info, then transfer the domain and site there. Tell their "cant hack it as a real lawyer" legal team to contact the "new" owner as you no longer own the site.

well
i am not a legal expert...

i think u still need to take professional legal advice...so that u give them a reply if required...

I love Alexa Assasins reply the most I will repost what he wrote, I think its the most practical way of handling this and to be honest with you it makes the most sense. These are letters written out almost automaticlly they didint do any research to really understand that you are only directing traffic to an authorized amazon affiliate and that if they were to cut you off they would also cut off sales to as well.

If this was me, I would either:

A:
Do nothing and WAIT until they have spent a lot of time and money
on creating a case which has no merit (see below) because if they
were smart they would have BOUGHT from your site and the second
you put it int he mail, you would be on your way to jail for Mail Fraud.
Criminal charge - supercedes any an all civil remedies available to them.

However, they don't seem to be smart - they obviously did not buy
a DVD from your site, or they'd KNOW you are an Amazon affiliate
AND they did not mention the surrendering of your domain name
nor offer to just buy the site.


B:
Write them and explain that you are simply directing traffic as an affliate
to ensure their fine, first generation products are sold through a reputable
point of sale; Amazon.com and that by your estimation, if all affiliate efforts
were to stop under duress, that would be be a restraint of trade matter.

C: The smart-ass approach.

Hi. Got your letter. Laughed my ass off.
Do you know who is the top Amazon.com affiliate for your products listed there
and who drives all the sales traffic to Amazon.com? Do you know the reason
behind your success through Amazon.com ??? Maybe you should first figure
how much of your yearly income is derived from Amazon.com sales and work
backwards from there to really understand the ramifications of stopping me!

You obviously did not buy a product through my site or you would
see that you are making false claims. All the products are sold
through Amazon.com There is no way to be confused about this
if you had simply tried to buy one - you'd be on the Amazon.com site.
Can you imagine what would go through a judges mind if he were
to duplicate and verify my statement against your false claims?
HE WOULD ADVISE YOU TO READ "Chicken Little"

Because the products available through my site are sold by Amazon.com
you are claiming that Amazon.com is selling pirated copies of your product.
If that is so, it is between you and Amazon.com

If you write me one more letter, I will do the worst thing that anyone
has ever done to you; I will stop promotion of your products and I
can guarantee that as a direct result, Amazon.com will, too!

change domains. had the same thing happen to me with linden labs (second life). bought a domain and setup a blog. got the email saying i violated TM etc...i looked into it and sure enough, i would have had my ass handed to me in court over a $10 domain. even though in my opinion it's wrong. i think that if they own the TM, they should have bought the domain. but w/e.

__________________
I need old dating leads

gentlemen make no mistake about it zumba and zumbaDVD are VERY different. this s a pure scare tactic, they don't have a leg to stand on that is why the email was aimed at illegally selling the DVD's not using their name. simply put they are jealous that you are higher on google and pissed about it that they didn't pick up that URL. trust me if it was an issue with the name they would not have mentioned DVD's you can do one of two thing. one not reply or two give in to the scare tactics. If they get nasty enough you can pay a lawyer to tell you the same thing I did and you will feel warm and fuzzy inside. remeber if nobody is hating then your not doing a good enough job. so I say good job.

It might be a prank for competition, might not be. Just to be safe I would reply back to them that you are just an advertiser for amazon.com and if they have an issues feel free to contact the relevant legal department:

Amazon.com Legal Department
P.O. Box 81226
Seattle, WA 98108
phone: (206) 266-4064
fax: (206) 266-7010

Somehow I doubt that some exercise video company wants to go up against amazon.com

Firstly, point out their mistakes, politely...then give them a statement from your free lawyer's consultation, and then...offer to sell as a direct affiliate to them - cutting out Amazon and thereby making you and them more money...!

I did almost exactly this a few days ago. Consulted with legal council, we drafted up a letter basically saying (cliffs)

We are not pirating dvds, we are directing to amazon's sale page
We feel our use of the term in our verbage is within our legal rights
BUT to avoid further "confusion" we will accept reasonable offers on our domain
If we receive no reply to this email we will assume all negotations are void and we will proceed with with the continuation of our website

So far no response

Prepare for a royal ass fucking my friend! Trust me, if you try and fight these guys you will only make your situation worse. I have worked for companies like this. And they all have a big fat legal team sitting on retainer waiting to fuck you at a moments notice. If you respond with some bullshit it will only provoke them to take you to court. And they know that if they do it will cost them nothing cause they already have attorneys on staff and it will cost you thousands. And you will never win. Take my advice friend, unless you are making lots of money then just let it go.

__________________
--It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.

Funny, i was selling such DVD's (unknown to me) on my website, and i got shut down by BIGGER people then Zumba..... try DISNEY! .... same threat.... my hosting SHUT ME DOWN, so i removed it, then got my site up in 2 hours.... I did call them, and they were very nice and told me they are not out to sue the world, but its a fake, and not to sell it any more.....

They really wont do much because its a pain....

If you are not selling any items, they cant do much, just remove the NAME from the site and you will be fine...

so what is the outcome here anybody have a update

I agree any response? this is almost like General Hospital Mid day drama series Someone should make a book about this. The Good The Bad and The ridiculous legal lawsuit!!

Wonder what came out.
Just read this.
All he has to do it contact them and tell them he is advertising amazon, that's it.
They might even allow him keep the domain..

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has he gone silent did they get him what is going on here