Newb Legal Question....webname/affiliate

8 replies
Hello everyone I am new to the forum and I am fairly new to internet marketing.

I have a legal question, and I'm wondering if anyone here might know the answer without being an attorney (unfortunately the big checks haven't come in yet ).

Is it legal to become an affiliate of a product and to buy a domain name very similar to theirs....say .....viaqra.com and write a small mini site about penis enhancement products and sell viagra as an affiliate?

PS I'm not really trying to do this with viagra but another product.

Everyone is always so helpful here, thank you very much.
#legal #newb #question #webname/affiliate
  • Profile picture of the author P.Sharma
    if the affiliate program does not specify any terms against the use of similar domain names then you should be cool.

    Then again I am not a lawyer, you need to talk to someone who knows about legal matters or just email the advertiser to know. Go through their TOS
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    • Profile picture of the author Tsnyder
      Originally Posted by P.Sharma View Post

      if the affiliate program does not specify any terms against the use of similar domain names then you should be cool.
      Disregard the advice quoted above... it is not correct.

      Tsnyder
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      • Profile picture of the author Chambers
        wow, a lot of replies. this product's name is multiple words. One of the words is a different word, but it sounds a lot like the original word. I did the keyword research. This domain is the best by a long shot, but it also made me curious because no one had purchased it lol.

        I was thinking if there was an issue on the affiliate side with the product i would just use the web name as my own company name and simply review all of the niche's product and sell the product indirectly through amazon.

        I have limited trademark law knowledge. Although I have several resources lying around I'm pretty sure I can look it up. I guess it's time for me to stop being lazy
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  • Profile picture of the author JonMills
    Originally Posted by Chambers View Post

    Hello everyone I am new to the forum and I am fairly new to internet marketing.

    I have a legal question, and I'm wondering if anyone here might know the answer without being an attorney (unfortunately the big checks haven't come in yet ).

    Is it legal to become an affiliate of a product and to buy a domain name very similar to theirs....say .....viaqra.com and write a small mini site about penis enhancement products and sell viagra as an affiliate?

    PS I'm not really trying to do this with viagra but another product.

    Everyone is always so helpful here, thank you very much.
    1st off be very careful as you could land yourself BOOTED out of their program completely
    2nd I saw a friend of mine in Australia take a domain name that was similiar to a leading brand online, the only difference she put a " THE " in front of her domain name and well cut a long story short, she ended up getting served legal papers and after all the work she put into that site... yep.. she was pissed. It's not worth it man.
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  • Profile picture of the author R Hagel
    Hi Chambers,

    Welcome to the forum.

    You might want to have a looksee at this thread:

    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...vice-here.html


    Cheers,
    Becky
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    • Profile picture of the author Marian
      I wouldn't register any registered trademark/brand/label as an affiliate domain. There are many other good variations and options.

      Marian
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    • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
      If the vendor's affiliate program's terms of use does not say that you can use the brand name as part of your domain name, your safest bet is to assume that you cannot.

      If you want to learn the conditions under which the use of a trademark (or something very similar to it) might not be infringing upon the trademark holder's rights, then you would need to speak to an attorney.

      For the time being, if you wish to do your best to avoid any legal hassles or consulting, your safest bet is to assume you cannot use a trademark or something confusingly similar to it unless you have permission to do so.
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