Is this illegal?

smallbrain

smallbrain

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So the other night I woke up at 3 with what I thought was a great idea and I’ve been stuck in it since. I told my biz partner about what I was starting and he said he had heard people getting in trouble for it a few years back.

here’s the idea:

buy domains of large influencers that don’t already have sites, create the site, create merch. Then contact them asking them to promote it and split a percentage.

I couldn’t find any solid answers to this as to why I’m asking on here. If anyone has done this please let me know.

If not I’ll just shoot my shot an hope for the best right ;)
 
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You could probably get into some legal trouble if the merch has their branding on it. As long as you get their permission in writing before you do anything with the designs I think you should be okay. But If you are really serious I would consult with a legal adviser. Best of luck brother, great idea!
 
No it's a not black hat. Why would be? You buy a domain name that is free and make a store.

Maybe the best solution is to offer them a store to buy.
 
As long as the influencer is not a trademark, then you are fine nothing will happen, but the idea of asking him to promote i'm not sure, most of them will refuse.

But try your luck.
 
If it has their likeness on it, they could definitely sue you. Influencers are also pretty greedy and narcissistic. If they figure out you were making money off their image, they're likely to come after you just because they want that money and attention. I'm not surprised other people have gotten in trouble for this. Also, all the "big" influencers usually have good lawyers since it's a business to them at that point.

Why not just do it the legitimate way and ask them from the start? If you do the printing and hard work, most influencers would gladly go half or take even less. For example, say you'll make merch for a big Youtuber, print and ship his or her t-shirts for 60% of the profit. Most people would take that offer. Influencers, again, are narcissists and want people to focus on them and their vlogging lifestyle, not spending time shipping t-shirts themselves.
 
As long as you do not promote your website/drive sales or act like you are the influencer, there is nothing wrong. As soon as you start using logos etc. you might get in trouble but the idea is good. Offer them 30% of the revenue. You keep 70% for all the work. Should be fine.
 
SocialNed said:
You could probably get into some legal trouble if the merch has their branding on it. As long as you get their permission in writing before you do anything with the designs I think you should be okay. But If you are really serious I would consult with a legal adviser. Best of luck brother, great idea!
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I don’t plan to sell or promote anything before they see it, just create it in hopes they’d partner
 
smallbrain said:
I don’t plan to sell or promote anything before they see it, just create it in hopes they’d partner
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Yeah of course, that is fine. Make sure you get the agreement in writing. Also put in some serious work to make it all nice and polished before you pitch it the influencer
 
I think any influencer who agrees to promote your site/products and split the profit is a stupid moron. 99% of the value is in the attention the influencer has (if he/she is real). What you bring is something they can buy cheap since they don't have it. What you are happying is sucker them on ignorance since i don't know. If I was an ignorant un-aware influencer with a million followers and you offer to make a site split profits my light bulb would go off and then i'll just go have someone make me one then sell shit to my drones who follow me. Making the drones follow and like me is the money not what you bring but you can sucker a stupid ignorant influencer until they realize they have the value and you are just a commodity.
 
TeslaFan said:
I think any influencer who agrees to promote your site/products and split the profit is a stupid moron. 99% of the value is in the attention the influencer has (if he/she is real). What you bring is something they can buy cheap since they don't have it. What you are happying is sucker them on ignorance since i don't know. If I was an ignorant un-aware influencer with a million followers and you offer to make a site split profits my light bulb would go off and then i'll just go have someone make me one then sell shit to my drones who follow me. Making the drones follow and like me is the money not what you bring but you can sucker a stupid ignorant influencer until they realize they have the value and you are just a commodity.
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This is the point as to why I buy the domain and build the site before they have the chance
 
If you use any of their content, images, etc that can get you into legal trouble. Buying the domain and building a website with fillers and then asking if you can go into a partnership with them should be okay.
 
Create a Influencer fan page or group (or buy a big one) like justin bieber LULW and promote the store like biebersmerch dot com
 
smallbrain said:
This is the point as to why I buy the domain and build the site before they have the chance
Click to expand...

So go after the stupid looser influencers and take advantage of them. Or why not sell them consulting and how they can do what you are doing and have them keep 100% whould't that be better for the influencers?
 
The minute you contact them, they're going to think you're making money off their brand and get angry.

If they're big enough to have legal representation, you're going to find yourself at the receiving end of a Cease & Desist.

If they're big enough to have a following, but not big enough to have a lawyer - you're going to be on the receiving end of a message to their followers saying that you're selling unauthorized versions of their materials.

You would be better off registering their domains and before you try to sell anything on it, contact them and ask them if they would like to buy the domain or potentially partner on a merch deal where you take care of the product, site, hosting etc. And they promote it. In exchange, they get 70% of the revenue and you'll take 30%. That's a very attractive offer - and they might be willing since they don't have to do anything but promote the store.
 
If you contact someone with a domain using their name it shows a lack of fair use on your part and they can easily have the domain taken off you. Look it up. Once you contact them and offer them anything relating to the domain it shows intent to use their name in bad faith.

Obvious if the person isn't famous then it doesn't matter. If they have a business (influencers are running a business) they can super easily get that domain.

If they become aware of you having their domain and contact you it's a different story.
 
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