Man am I an idiot

I've been making money off of it for years with the domain parking. I don't see how this is any different.

Then I have owned this domain since 1998 then because *I* was the reason he was forced to buy the .net and has never approached me.

What type of a lawyer would you even contact to ask about something like this?:confused:

Well, he did lead a life of excess, I doubt he even knows how to work a computer.

Brian

at least you earned while you were parking. But it could have been more I mean a double revenue!

hmmm probably they were observing your site and found out they can have an edge on you if they implement something.

True - but that doesn't mean they (the lawyers) certainly won't try anyway.

OP - the best advice you should get would be first from an actual lawyer.

Rob

The Peter Criss trademark is in UK. You may not have anything to worry about from him, but since he has been described as 'practically illiterate', he no doubt has lots of financial people on the payroll and I am sure they can read very well.

The reason you were probably not contacted so far is, KISS has a rep as being very, very fan friendly and I am sure they would rather a .net than mar that rep. I am also betting, if you made it a 'fan site', you could probably get permission for that very reason.

Doing it 'under the table' is asking for a whooping. Easy to justify a suit if a 'fan' attempts to 'steal' from them. As long as it was parked, it was 'almost' innocent'. Actively monetizing it... exploiting the name, well, that is a different story.

Attorney time. (Or better yet, public relation manager time.)

Since none of us are qualified to give legal opinions - doesn't matter. Check it with an attorney or take the chance - your choice. Of all the arguments given, the one abut selling K.I.S.S. stuff makes a good point.

Actually, yes I did read the whole thread and many other threads where people want to infringe on trademarks. I also read the articles on Celebrity Cybersquatting and the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act ("ACPA").

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That's a law by the way.

That's cool. If you're prepared and in the know on this then go for it. I hope it works for you.

I just know there's a few business people out there I wouldn't mess with and Gene Simmons is one of them.

If you're going to sell Kiss stuff though, you'll need permission and will prob have to pay them royalties.

But I know there are laws against owning a business a persons domain name. I was pointed to it a few years back when a competing business moved right accross the street from me and I bought the domain name of his biz.

I was just so surprised that someone wouldn't register their own business domain name that I bought it. Not the smartest move I made.

All I had to do was give it back though. I bet as soon as you start monetizing it you'll hear from Criss and or Kiss' legal folks.

In any case, I hope I'm wrong and you make millions of dollars with it. Seriously.

Petercriss.com is the best you could do? No Genesimmons.com or paulstanley.com? Hah I'm just kidding.

That is actually interesting. I wonder if people still want his stuff. I read Money Sex KISS by Gene and he was boasting about how huge their merchandising company was and still is so good luck as they are touring again.

By the way that book is a great read for motivating people to get rich.

"Due Diligence" is the phrase I've been trying to think of.....I think that by having my whois info public and my contact information up on the site for a good 3 years offering the site to Mr. Criss, I've done my "due diligence" to show good faith that I am not a cybersquatter.

So anyway we'll see. If he responds, I'll let you guys know.

Don't tell Gene Simmons that...:rolleyes:

Well, yes and no. If your name is petercriss, and you post information about yourself - even if it is owned as a trademark, if you use it for your OWN personal use, you wouldn't be forced to give it up 'necessarily'.

I've read through many of the WIPO cases, and typically when a respondent wins its because it's their own name, AND they aren't trying to profit from the "other" persons' name.

However, if your name is petercriss and you ARE trying to profit from the celebrity who has the same name and they trademarked it, then yeah - tough on you.

When a case goes to WIPO - it takes (if I recall) up to 3 lawyers to review the case and agree on whatever the decision is.

A WIPO case is costly - FOR the complainant (in this case, "peter criss", or the lawyers of KISS or whomever holds the trademark to his name). THEY have to initiate the proceedings.

No one else can/would. (i.e., a respondent won't create a claim against themselves LOL).

So IF the complainant files - Jennifer would have to give it up "IF" she lost (which would be likely).

Typically, the complainant is responsible to show that they've at the very least contacted the owner of the site and tried to get it back BEFORE filing a claim.

When I went through this for my client - it was from her former partner who filed the complaint.

The lawyer for him first contacted me and threatened me (I had changed the website that my client owned, and the former partner didn't like it).

To make a long story short - he could threaten me all he wanted, but

1) he never even offered to BUY the website (and the lawyer considered that)
2) they never offered to compensate my client NOR me for my time involved, they just kept threatening.

It was me who directed them to WIPO and told them if they have issue with it they had to file a complaint there. (HE was "reverse cybersquatting" in a way, he did NOT have the rights to the site).

Anyway - The former partner had to pay the big bucks to file the complaint, AND all legal fees to his lawyer.

And little 'ole me won against that lawyer

But - I knew the internet 'laws' for the most part and I read EVERYTHING I could get my hands on regarding WIPO cases.

No, I'm not a lawyer, but if I wasn't on the net, I did want to be one :p

So - what it comes down to is,

1) The trademark owner SHOULD be coming forward "if" they wanted it

2) They SHOULD show at least proper respect by offering to cover the fees she's incurred over these years (i.e., she's not attempting to sell coke.com for a million bucks - but hosting/renewals cost $ and the courts would consider her to be compensated for it if she did "lose" and fought that part).

3) they would Then have to take it to WIPO and prove SHE was purposely cybersquatting.

The fact that they haven't even tried to contact her - even by phone if email bounced by chance - says that very likely they won't bother with a WIPO case, and they won't bother trying to get it back.

~~ NOT legal advice here ~~ Just what I would suspect.

It'll be interesting to see how this goes.

Amber

And Fry's Electronics. They were held up for YEARS with a cybersquatting case.

Well, now your talking Tort reform - If Nissan Computer won the case, then Nissan Car Company should pay all costs. I realize that it is not the way it is currently, that is why many lawyers are such scum, but that is another topic for another thread.

My specific argument was that, technically speaking, if some person becomes famous and they have the same name as you, that does not automatically grant them ownership of a domain you have purchased that contains your name.

-DTM.

That's what I meant. When am I risking getting a cease and desist - is it merely including the celebrities name in my domain name, or is it trying to create a commercial website that leverages their name?

Well I did infact want to suggest that you give it to him, and not sell it.

I just wasn't sure if you would respond favourably to that as it seems you're more set upon monetizing the site for profit, or at least "were" when you first initiated this thread.

Best of luck with it.

Ahhh I gotcha now. So you arent even asking for advice or willing to take into account any valuable advice that is given to you within a discussion on the topic to which you began a thread?

Just another one looking to toot their own horn and gain respect and credibility among the forum?

Should we expect a:

"How I made $xxx,xxx in 7 days by profiting off of someone else's name....EVEN THOUGH "WARRIORS" Told Me Not To!!!!!"

Ebook or WSO to arrive soon????

Cant wait...Im tickled with excitement