Contacted by a legal team (need advice)

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

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?

oxonbeef said:

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.

Click to expand...

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

TheTRUTH said:

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

Click to expand...

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!

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.

spdgxp said:

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.

Click to expand...

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.