What would you do with a famous actors domain?

[ilovenaps]

So say you had some famous actor dot com domains.

Many of these have been lost on cybersquatting accusations and rightfully so in some cases, but here is what I think I'd do (am doing?)

Fan site, with adsense and amazon. only promote whatever the actor is promoting, nothing to edgy racy or in violation of copyrights.

Is that legal? Ride it till it falls off? Got any better ideas?

 

[dirtbag]

make a legit fan site out of it, and run some adsense or whatever. amazon their latest movies and whatnot. if you keep it legit, i doubt anybody would bother coming for the domain...

 

[Uptownbulker]

So say you had some famous actor dot com domains.

Many of these have been lost on cybersquatting accusations and rightfully so in some cases, but here is what I think I'd do (am doing?)

Fan site, with adsense and amazon. only promote whatever the actor is promoting, nothing to edgy racy or in violation of copyrights.

Is that legal? Ride it till it falls off? Got any better ideas?

I would leave it the Hell alone as the intellectual property rights of actors, etc, are very well and very strictly controlled by California law; even the dead ones.

They will come after you like sharks circling a drowning man but it is up to you.

Do whatever you think that your bank account can defend.

My $.02.

Uptown.

 

[l30p0ld0]

Well there's a post in the link below that caught my attention:

http://www.webmasterworld.com/domain_names/3235405.htm

I looked up the WIPO policy and they've got specific policies on domain names of individuals. First, the name must be used in trade or commerce. Film stars, novelists, etc, fall under this category.
Regarding fan sites:
An active and clearly non-commercial fan site may have rights and legitimate interests in the domain name that includes the complainant's trademark. The site should be non-commercial and clearly distinctive from any official site.

So you can build a fan site, but it has to be a labor of love. If you put adsense or amazon links on it, you're trading off their trademark. I also noticed that they said "may have rights and legitimate interests in the domain name". They're not making any promises even to legitimate fan sites.
Therefore, my conclusion is, don't build anything on a celebrity domain name, because the celebrity can take it away. Probably the safest thing with a fan site is to put it on an unrelated domain name.

 

[ilovenaps]

Haha, my $1.42 euros has grown to over $30 but I don't think my account can fight much. Its just crazy how many famous actors haven't bought their dot com yet.

Perhaps I just wasted a few domain reg's.

So even fan site w/ adsense/amazon is a no no?

What about mis spellings? For example an actor name Thom, but most searches are for Tom.

 

[ilovenaps]

I'll just assume selling them is out of the question?

And I wouldn't have the legal means to argue this point but if an actor sells movies via Amazon and other retail outlets they are allowing a large number of people to profit off their name without direct permission. Assuming the site already only contained publicly released products links and information you wouldn't be abusing anything in the sense of exploiting more than they already are. Affiliate links to their works would also profit them.

I'm kinda scared now. What about parody? Thats legal isn't it?

 

[Uptownbulker]

I'll just assume selling them is out of the question?

And I wouldn't have the legal means to argue this point but if an actor sells movies via Amazon and other retail outlets they are allowing a large number of people to profit off their name without direct permission. Assuming the site already only contained publicly released products links and information you wouldn't be abusing anything in the sense of exploiting more than they already are. Affiliate links to their works would also profit them.

I'm kinda scared now. What about parody? Thats legal isn't it?

Parody is one thing; theft of intellectual property, which is what they call it when you use some famous name to make money without paying that person or the estate, is entirely anaother.

You should see an attorney familiar with intellectual property as there are very large stacks of dimes to be made if you do it right.

Get an opinion in writing and go for it!

 

[vmedia]

fuck it, make it one of those fake naked celeb sites and get rich. get rich or die tryin....

 

[ilovenaps]

think I'll thank you for the first post and see what my friend who's about to graduate for entertainment law says about it.

So i guess my name brand property domains are a slight problem too like if you owned "fordfocus dot com"

Maybe i can just keep getting that adsense if i keep it cool and low on the radar?

 

[hustlingrind]

Contact them and ask if they'd like to meet up and buy it from you for a cheap price or free, Get your foot in the door for some nice parties. Make friends in high places, not enemies.

 

[ilovenaps]

Oh all the domain names are of older men famous actors... Wonder if that still works for naked celeb sites.......


And why would I want to just meet with them (assuming you know who the fuck a them is) and make friends in high places? I post on BHW. I wouldn't want to be a member of any club that would have me.

 

[hogatoga]

just have people opt-in for the latest news about the person then send them stuff like credit cards or sign ups for ringtones

 

[megabump]

You don't have to worry about getting sued, the most you will probably get is a cease and desist letter.

Worst case scenario I've ever seen is that you lose your domain to the celebrity.

Make a blog, put up some adsense and link to items for sale on ebay with your affiliate link. Create an opt-in list and send a weekly newsletter containing all your posts for the week with a couple extra ads from amazon.

You didn't mention if the celebrity was old or young, boy or girl, but write your posts like a real fan would.

So if your domain is n1ckj0nas.com:

OMG I just saw this totally kewl autographed pic of Nick on eBay. :: loves it :: My mom won't buy it for me. =( I need a job!

It would be very bad publicity for any celebrity to seek monetary damages from a "totally kewl" fan site.

 

[shibumila]

Register it with a domain proxy, ignore all cease and desists, and adsense the crap out of it.

 

[mdd345]

Register it with a domain proxy, ignore all cease and desists, and adsense the crap out of it.

And of course... host on a server based in... I don't know... Panama?

 

[StillSmiling]

Am I the only one who reads this thread as the following:

So I have this flame, should I play with it?

I have to ask... when there are so many other ways to make money on the internet that don't involve the likelihood of litigation, why are you so insistent on this particular method?

 

[irancrude]

Hi
I suggest you go for the "Free speech" rights side, whatever you decide to develop. if it is famous actor it certainly should have a manager worried about rights = Money. However free speech if the way to go.
A fan site maybe with some adsense and amazon maybe could make your income.

MAURICE.

So say you had some famous actor dot com domains.

Many of these have been lost on cybersquatting accusations and rightfully so in some cases, but here is what I think I'd do (am doing?)

Fan site, with adsense and amazon. only promote whatever the actor is promoting, nothing to edgy racy or in violation of copyrights.

Is that legal? Ride it till it falls off? Got any better ideas?

 

[mikie46]

Sell it at sedoparking.com.

 

[bizcredit]

You know how shitty a celeb would look to the fans if they shut down a FAN site with tons of members in a forum?

 

[yuppy]

yea id def make a forum associated with the main pages