Just bought celebrety exact match domain. What to do?

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So I noticed that my favorite music artist's domain name was for sale. He is well known and still active.

What can I legally do with this domain to monetize it?
#main internet marketing discussion forum #bought #celebrety #domain #exact #match
  • You can't legally monetize it. That was a bad move you made.
    • [1] reply
    • Even with affiliate links to his albums or something like that? What about selling it to him?
      • [1] reply
  • Just canceled it.
    • [1] reply


    • You could silently contact the celebrity asking him directly if he was interested in acquiring the domain name. It's not illegal at all. If you purchase a domain on the name of celebrity and the celebrity did not buy it before you (whatever were his reasons) then you are not guilty. If the celebrity had trademarks reserved, all he could do was to cancel your domain (unless you caused any harm to his reputation).
      In many cases, celebrities simply purchase such domains. Now you have closed this chapter,
      so no worries
      Some companies/celebs allow it and some does not. It depends.
      They have the right to take your domain, but where it is written in the law that he will necessarily take
      it from you and without paying you a cent? I have seen many cases where the celebrities offer some
      agreeable price and purchase the domain.
      Regarding your question about being affiliate, you should contact the celebrity and also inform him about the advertizing network through which you'll be promoting his music. He will allow you, since it will be a win-win
      situation for both of you. Who doesn't like to see more sales! If the celebrity is happy, what is the need
      to drag everything into the law suits?



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      • [2] replies
  • You can't use brand names/copyrighted/ trademarks when you are purchasing a domain name. If you want to promote stuff like that, you have to get a generic, broad name that relates to the niche you're in. For instance, if you wanted to sell something like One Direction stuff. you've have to get a domain name like "myfavoriteboybands" or something like that. You could then add a page to your site that includes One Direction stuff. Do you see the difference?

    Joey
  • Bobby, you live and learn.

    You did the right thing by cancelling it. The term is "domain squatting." Whenever you purchase a domain always be mindful of potential trademark issues. You can learn more about domain trademark issues over here: Domains & Trademarks.

    - Tom
  • Nothing. I was going to say hire a lawyer and go to war, just for the fun of it :p but I can see you already made the right move.
  • Farnext, I didn't say registering the domain was illegal. Trying to profit from it is and that is the specific question the OP asked. Also, the exact thing you described, about registering the domain and then trying to sell it to the celebrity, is cybersquatting and is illegal. So you are the one that needs to get your facts straight.
    • [1] reply

    • Yes, I agree; and I apologize for any misunderstanding on my behalf.
      What I meant was this:
      We don't force any celebrity to buy from us. We contact the celebrity and he says, "I am interested in the domain. Will you sell it? " and in reply we humbly say yes. We negotiate the price. He agrees to pay us more than for what we purchased it (The price could be lower than our expectations. We are not stupid to ask
      him for Millions.) . So, we sell the domain.
      (Keeping in mind that the celebrity may not give us anything or even he could exercise his rights and
      acquire that domain.) I was not saying in anyway to force the celebrity. It's perfectly fine that we contact people/companies involved to know about their reservations before we begin any such venture.



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  • Just to add.

    Cybersquatting is regulated in many countries. In the U.S it's regulated by the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) of 1999 and many high-profile cases have established strong legal precedent against registering a domain with the intent to profit from the goodwill of a brand or well-known name.

    You can learn more here:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybersquatting

    You cannot register or purchase such a domain and hope to profit when someone relevant (a celeb, say) contacts you and hopes to purchase it. You will simply receive a legal order to hand it over. You can register or purchase it, certainly. But why bother? You can't ever reclaim your investment.

    So. You did indeed do the right thing, Bobby. In the end. LOL

    - Tom
  • What to do? Get a good lawyer ;-)
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