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Would I get in trouble for registering these domains...?

by EugeneA
5 replies
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Hello,

In need of some advice. I'm looking to register a domain in the news sector. So I thought I'd register a domain similar to famous news companies out there.

For example. CCB.com/CBC.com (BBC), NNC.com (CNN), ACB (ABC).

If I registered any domains similar to already established news companies, or domains spinned off those companies, would it cause legal issues?

I understand that this also leads to trademarks and what not, which leads me to also ask: how do you check trademarks?

Thank you
#domains #legal #registering #trouble
  • Profile picture of the author mojojuju
    Originally Posted by EugeneA View Post

    Hello,

    In need of some advice. I'm looking to register a domain in the news sector. So I thought I'd register a domain similar to famous news companies out there.

    For example. CCB.com/CBC.com (BBC), NNC.com (CNN), ACB (ABC).

    If I registered any domains similar to already established news companies, or domains spinned off those companies, would it cause legal issues?

    I understand that this also leads to trademarks and what not, which leads me to also ask: how do you check trademarks?

    Thank you
    No legal expert here, but those are just three letter domain names. There's nothing wrong in my opinion with buying one of them and publishing news on them. I think you're obviously going to run into trouble if you're trying to duplicate the style of one of those sites on a domain name that's supposed to fool people into thinking that they are on the authentic version of one of those sites. In other words, you're going to be asking for trouble if you own CBC.com and try to make it look like a clone of BBC.com.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jack Gordon
    I agree. If it is your intent to confuse people with the similarities, then you are going to be asking for some trouble.

    If not, just regular news sites on those domains are not going to inherently cause you any problems.

    However, I think it is a fair assumption that we are not really talking about premium 3-letter .coms here.

    Can you give a better example of what you really had in mind?
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    Fifteen Lessons I have learned over 15 years and six businesses (or, My 1000th-Post Manifesto)
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  • Profile picture of the author UMS
    Good luck if you are trying to find a three letter domain name. Pretty much every combination of letters has been registered (for .com's)
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  • Profile picture of the author EugeneA
    Thanks for the replies guys. The actual domain I had in mind, though not 3 letter combo is available. It's intended to be a spin off a popular news domain. So you would see the url and go "haha, I get it." So I wanted to know if it would safe to go for it (without actually disclosing the domain).

    With your advice/suggestion and some research I decided that it would probably be best to stay away. No need for legal issues.

    Thank you folks.
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    • Profile picture of the author jbelt999
      Good advice, great decision!
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      Jon P. Belt

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