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Question about creating a site referring to a product / band / actor

by Techie Turtle
8 replies
My wife and I were talking about this yesterday. I was saying it's OK to make a website about any product, person, band, business, etc as long as you clearly make it known that it's not the official page. Like, GeicoUnofficial.com, BrunoMarsUnofficial.com, WalmartUnofficial.com, and so on.

My wife was leaning towards the other side. She was saying it's still using a copyrighted name and once they find the website, there will be a letter from a lawyer.

Anyone know of the legalities? I imagine you have to put a big disclaimer on the site?
#actor #band #creating #product #question #referring #site
  • Profile picture of the author talfighel
    Using a company's or a person's name in your domain name is not the way to go. I don't recommend that you do it.

    It is better to be safe then sorry down the road.
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    • Profile picture of the author Tina Golden
      First, there is no such thing as a copyrighted name. The term you mean is trademark.

      You are correct in saying you can create a site around a brand/person/product, etc. However, you do need to be careful about things.

      And never use a trademark in a domain. That's just asking for trouble and adding 'unofficial' does not save your butt.
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      • Profile picture of the author Michael Shook
        Don't use the work of someone else in your domain name. You are just asking for trouble. Besides which, you would need either paid traffic or social media traffic because while you might rank for a short period of time - as in hours - your misappropriated name site is not going to stick in the SERPS.

        Or just think about it like this. What if someone took your name, added unofficial to the end of it and made a porn site, or a site advertising bulk email services from an out-of-country non-traceable domain or just a link to a CafePress shop where they used a picture with your name on it and plastered it to a dozen advertising specialty items with the label Worlds Biggest Loser.

        Those are reasons why celebrities employ online rep management tams with legal staff on standby to send C&D's and DMCA takedown notices.
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  • Profile picture of the author stoltingmediagroup
    Originally Posted by Techie Turtle View Post

    My wife and I were talking about this yesterday. I was saying it's OK to make a website about any product, person, band, business, etc as long as you clearly make it known that it's not the official page.
    How did you come to this conclusion? (A.K.A. Where did you hear that?)

    Personally I've never spoken to any entertainment lawyer that would have
    put it as simple as you did.

    Also, by saying it would be "OK", what exactly are you referring to?

    That it's ok to set up an artist fan site, or a product's brand name site and it would be automatically Ok with all trademark or copyright holders?

    As with everything else legal/non legal, you can in fact be asked to take such a site down
    for different reasons. The biggest reason claimed is usually copyright infringement.

    You see, besides using an artist or company "name" etc, there is the "content" issue.
    And here is where many of these types of sites step over the line.

    Scenario:

    A Fansite has tons of celebrity photos posted.
    What are the odds that the site owner shot all of those pics themselves?

    Some times the images are simply taken from another website.
    In which case the rights to the image could be owned by a professional photographer,
    or a publication, etc...

    Some people seem to think that it's OK (there's that word again)
    to cut and paste any image or text from any site and add it to their own.
    (if it's on Google, it's free for the taking right?)

    For the most part this is what becomes the issue, and a Fansite owner will hear about it.

    Also, CD artwork, music, video clips etc that are not authorized for use by the owners
    can be cause for them to make a claim at any time.

    If at any time I decided to do something that involved using a name, likeness, etc,

    I would: 1. Get permission through the proper channels first. 2. Stay legal.

    Why waste time and funds building such a community (because I thought it was Ok)
    at the risk of it being taken down?
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  • Profile picture of the author winnermarketing
    you could use a name reffering to the person, as a nickname!!
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve B
      Seek competent professional legal advice. You are on extremely thin ice if you proceed as you "imagine" it's OK. Tradename and trademark infringement can be serious legal issues.

      Sure there are lots of others that are breaking the law with what they're doing online. But to suppose that something is OK just because you see other sites up and running online would be a very foolish move.

      Listen to your wife . . . there are a lot better and safer ways to make money online.

      Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author kilgore
      Whether or not it's legal doesn't actually matter all that much. They can still sue you and whether or not they're right matters less than the fact that they have more money to spend on lawyers than you do. For instance, let's say you live in New York and some California-based celebrity/company sues you in a California-based court. Are you really going to spend the time, money and energy to defend yourself all the way across the country? Are you really going to take the time to respond to whatever crazy discovery requests they serve on you? I doubt it.

      That said, companies and celebrities usually -- but not always -- avoid completely frivolous lawsuits so they don't get bad PR. And some might actually like it if you start a fansite or similar
      site as it helps prop up their brand. Again, this may be true whether or not your site technically violates the law.

      For my money though, I'd avoid those types of sites as (1) they are frought with all sorts of potential problems as indicated above and (2) they're generally hard to monetize anyway.
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  • Profile picture of the author laurencewins
    There are so many threads the same as this and there's one thing I really don't understand... what's the point in putting a lot of time and effort into something that may have severe legal repercussions down the track?

    Regardless of how you do it, you could spend a year and lots of money setting up your site, only to be slammed with a legal letter that destroys you.

    My advice - DON'T DO IT!
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