Expert Advice for Avoiding Complaints about Your Gripe Site

Here is an excerpt from an article posted on the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) blog called, “Avoiding Gripes About Your Gripe (or Parody) Site.”   The article provides several tips and tools gripe or parody site owners can use in order to avoid trademark and copyright infringement claims.  Here are the six recommendations by the EFF:

Cybersquatting On The George Bush Library Name

Our lawyers are always amazed by articles such as the one in the Dallas Morning News, which highlights all of the people who have registered variations of George Bush's name, and the name of his library. There has been a lot of commentary recently about cybersquatting on politician names. Many of the uses noted below arguably meet the definition of unlawful cybersquatting under both the UDRP and ACPA. But no one quoted in the article seems to be aware that the registration of domains incorporating famous names such as George Bush is unlawful, subjecting them to damages in excess of $100,000.00

Bush library searches for Web site name 1:45 PM CT | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Headline | National and International News

What’s in a name? Plenty when Web users are looking for a recognizable brand. Here are some sites registered by owners other than the Bush Library Foundation:

GeorgeWBushLibrary.net — web company Illuminati Karate, Raleigh, N.C. (adlink site and a clear violation of cybersquatting laws).

GeorgeWBushLibrary.org — Chickenhead Productions, an anti-Bush Web site

(Does not appear to meet the gripe site test, and thus first amendment protection).

TheGeorgeWBushLibrary.com — Domains By Proxy (Does not appear to meet the gripe site test, and thus first amendment protection).

Technorati Tags: george bush, george w bush, bush library, cybersquatting

Gripe Site & Cybersquatting Lawyers

Ever visited a website that has a domain name that includes "sucks" in it? How about a gripe site, or a web site that allegedly attacks, exposes, or complains about a person, company, service, or product? The amount of damage such a site can do to the individual or company whose trademark is contained in the domain name is staggering. Gripe sites are becoming more common.  The best way to protect your trademark or brand,a nd avoid domain disputes, is to defensively register the most common variations of your domain name so that cybersquatters are forced to register domains which don't include your trademark in the domain name. . 

Gripe Site Suits Starting to Take Shape Nationally

Corporations have started to test their ability to use the courts to dismantle gripe sites which disparage them.  In some instances, they attack the use of the domain name which may include the corporations trademark.  In other instances, they attack the use of the companies name in the text of of the web pages.  Trademark violation and cybersquatting allegations are the favorite legal theories used by lawyers attempting to shut down so-called gripe sites.