Does this count as copy infringement?

This is why people should never go to a public forum for advice on legal matters. ^

It doesn't whether you are profiting by selling a product or by ads on the site. If the trademark is being used to generate an income then that is where the problem lies.

Disclosure: I'm also no lawyer by any means.

As to whether or not it would be considered trademark infringement, that I cannot be certain about. A lot of people think just using someones trademark in your domain name is infringement alone, but it's not. A clear case of this is the website called PaypalSucks.com. They have the Paypal name/trademark quite clearly in their domain name. But they have been allowed to continue on with the website even after Paypal have tried many times to have it taken down.

The problem of trademark infringement occurs when there is confusion between the real brand and the people using that trademark. So quite clearly people who see the website PaypalSucks.com know that it is not a website created by Paypal and thus there is no confusion between it and the main brand. After all, this is what copyright infringement was created for. To stop any confusion between the official brand and others trying to represent or mis-represent that brand.

Just as I could also setup a fruit store on the side of the road and call it 'Apple'. Since I am selling goods that are in no way related to the Apple products I am well within my rights to do so. If however I was using that same name and selling computers on the side of the road, Apple would have a legitimate case against me because people could easily assume I was representing the official Apple brand. Thus I am using their trademark and goodwill to profit.

So a site such as productnamereviews.com is a tough one. It depends how hard the company decides to chase you. Is there any confusion as to whether the site is created by the official brand or someone else? Possibly. So it would be safer to just use a generic domain name and then create pages for your reviews such as smarthphones.com/apple-iphone-5-review

You will be safe in the meantime though, is what I meant in my prior reply.

If you're planning an Amazon site, you'd best contact Amazon as well. I'm pretty sure the current version of their associate agreement forbids using brand names in domain names to promote affiliate products. You're also not allowed to use brand names as keywords in PPC ads.

If you look at it from Amazon's point of view, it makes sense.

You put up your Samsung review site, with only Amazon links. Samsung objects. You're a (relatively) penniless nobody, while Amazon has very deep pockets. Who does Samsung name in the infringement lawsuit?

Answer? Both of you.

@Dorsch

A few quick questions, since you seem so certain of the answers.

Where did you go to law school? What year, and in what state(s) did you pass the bar? How long have you specialized in trademark law?

Most important, are you willing to put your money where your mouth is and indemnify the OP if he follows your advice and gets sued?

I didn't think so.

Yes like that, you can (or I was told) have a trade mark in a sub domain just not in the domain.

Your example could still get someone in hot water, because most marketers would format it in such a way that people would see "Brand Name Widget Reviews", thus still mistaking it for an official site.

Putting the trademark to the left of the TLD (.org, in your example) is not a good idea.

Using something like:

WidgetReviews.org/Brandname/

is usually pretty safe.