I was reading TMZ.com, which I do daily. Yes I like celebrity gossip, lol. During my daily read of celebrity news I found an article which included GoDaddy.
It appears that Michael Jackson’s estate is suing the owner of MichaelJacksonCasino.com and has included GoDaddy in that lawsuit. Why is GoDaddy involved, because they allowed the registrant to purchase the name using their service.
A rep for Go Daddy told TMZ, “While we have not seen the lawsuit, if we are named, Go Daddy plans to vigorously defend itself.” The rep adds, “When customers are involved in a legal dispute, Go Daddy complies with court orders.”
To read the full article visit TMZ.com.
Just curious, do you think registrars should be held liable for allowing registrants to purchase trademark or questionable domain names?
Holding the registrar liable is insane
There is no way for a registrar to “know” if a string is trademarked or not – it would also be impossible to block all trademarks etc., without infringing on other rights
It would be a different matter if the registrar knowingly encouraged registrants to infringe
the computer system is auto pilot, you can do is review every new domain registration, but we all know it’s impossible.
Software could easily be made on their end to search the trademark database for possible copyright issues. Right? Also they should be able to ban certain trademarked names from being searched/bought/sold as a domain.
I think they should be help responsible, just as they should be held responsible for all of the expiring trademarked domains for sale in their marketplace that they earn money on if someone purchases! I think it is highly illegal and unethical on their end, but that’s just my opinion.
That would never work
Which trademark database would you check against?
What about “fair use”?
Pretty much every word in the English language is trademarked somewhere, but that doesn’t mean that you cannot register domain names WITHOUT actually infringing.
Even my own first name is a trademark, yet I am not infringing by registering domains such as michele.me
Also, if a registrar were to attempt to block TM registrations and failed their liability would be greater. Conversely speaking, blocking the ability to register a domain could have a free speech / free trade impact
Personally I’m on the fence. Although I agree it would be nearly impossible to block all, it might be nice for them to try though. Or maybe that’s even the registry’s fault as well.
Funny just contacted godaddy about a name i felt was perahps a trademark infringement and in their reply they had a disclaimer regarding trademarks and no responsability on their part