Can I Be Sued For Registering A Domain Name That Is A Copyrighted Name?

mcdonalds.com for example. I know that one is already registered. But what if it was available? What about intellectual property without a copyright? Could George Bush sue me if I registered imthedecider.com, for example?

4 Responses to “Can I Be Sued For Registering A Domain Name That Is A Copyrighted Name?”

  • Anonymous:

    That would be a trademark and not a copyright issue. And what you’re talking about is cybersquatting:
    “According to the U.S. federal law known as the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, cybersquatting is registering, trafficking in, or using a domain name with bad-faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else. The cybersquatter then offers to sell the domain to the person or company who owns a trademark contained within the name at an inflated price.”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybersquatt…
    More about the subject:http://www.nolo.com/article.cfm/objectID…
    http://www.mgrossmanlaw.com/articles/2000/cyb…
    searchwebservices.techtarget.com/sDefi…
    Hope that helps!

  • toadyboy:

    yes copyright laws protece all of its tradename

  • Dave Zan:

    It’s a fact of life that some domain names can bear a term or phrase resembling that of a trademark. Whether you’ll be sued or not depends mainly on 2 things: a) whether your intended usage is potentially infringing someone’s trademark rights, and b) if that trademark holder decides to hold you accountable for it or not.
    In the US, anybody can sue anyone for anything anytime. Be aware of your risks and manage them accordingly.

  • Starla_C:

    You can be sued for registerina a domain name that is already copyrighted.
    The rest of your question is hogwash and I won’t answer it.