domain Beyonce.info

[webcom]

A recent acquisition - Beyonce.info
A fabulous artist and one of my personal favorites.

Massive OVT - 2,492,709 and close to 44 million Google results.

Value? Less than $1,000 or over?

Thanks.

 

[dgridley]

Unfortunately, while .info might allow you to circumvent this, has obvious TM issues.. nice one, however..

 

[webcom]

Thanks for your view, dgridley. Her recored label only owns the .com and the .net

This will most likely go into development and the registration can be defended under "fair use" if issues arise.

More thoughts, please?

 

[kemjika11]

Unfortunately, while .info might allow you to circumvent this, has obvious TM issues.. nice one, however..

Actually, one could easily agree that it has TM issues, but it could be hard to succesfully win that TIM case in court. After all, beyonce is just a first name. if it was beyonceknowles.info, then you would be in a tight position, but since its just her first name(and a first name in general in the first place), i think you could defend this one and keep it. its just like owning janet.info or justin.info. yes famous people are named that, but how many other regular folks have that name? many, so its ambiguous.

 

[Young3]

shes hot right now(in the business haha) but really i say low XXX

 

[dgridley]

You'd have a case if the site were used for anyone BUT Beyonce Knowles, but seeing as she traditionally is identified by her first name only (ala Madonna or Cher), your argument is very thin IMO.

Actually, one could easily agree that it has TM issues, but it could be hard to succesfully win that TIM case in court. After all, beyonce is just a first name. if it was beyonceknowles.info, then you would be in a tight position, but since its just her first name(and a first name in general in the first place), i think you could defend this one and keep it. its just like owning janet.info or justin.info. yes famous people are named that, but how many other regular folks have that name? many, so its ambiguous.

 

[000]

I think it's a nice domain, but I would not recommend developing it into a Beyonce Knowles site. It'd be better to leave it as is than put up a site like that imho. I'm no expert on TM issues, but I think that your case would be extremely thin indeed if you did that (put up a site related to Beyonce Knowles).

 

[gazzip]

You'd have a case if the site were used for anyone BUT Beyonce Knowles

I think this would be spot on advice.


.

 

[bobdigital]

You'd have a case if the site were used for anyone BUT Beyonce Knowles,

Is there another "Beyonce" in the world ?
What else could you use it for ?

 

[000]

This could be insightful:

http://www.babynames.com/Names/name_display.php?n=beyonce

 

[Archangel]

You'd have a case if the site were used for anyone BUT Beyonce Knowles, but seeing as she traditionally is identified by her first name only (ala Madonna or Cher), your argument is very thin IMO.

I don't see it as thin. It depends on a few factors. It reminds me of the madonna.com case a few years back. Madonna won that case because the owner used the domain for porn -- and she felt it tarnished her image. Keep the site clean and I doubt you could get sued.

There are a billion fan sites out there that use, let's say, Adsense. Would your domain land you a lawsuit if it was made into a fan site? With or without a possible profit in it? NO. A million similar sites are already online and no one's been sued yet, to my knowledge.

 

[dgridley]

As has been pointed out before many, many times.. just because there are tons of other fan sites out there turning a profit doesn't man you are safe from litigation.. quite the contrary. Any TM holder can decide to contest any violation at any time.. they may or may not win. If they do win, you may be liable for any profits derived, punitive damages, plus you are not protected even if you no longer own the domain if you profited from it. It's up to the domain owner if he/she wants to chance it or not.

There are a billion fan sites out there that use, let's say, Adsense. Would your domain land you a lawsuit if it was made into a fan site? With or without a possible profit in it? NO. A million similar sites are already online and no one's been sued yet, to my knowledge.

 

[Archangel]

As has been pointed out before many, many times.. just because there are tons of other fan sites out there turning a profit doesn't man you are safe from litigation.. quite the contrary. Any TM holder can decide to contest any violation at any time.. they may or may not win. If they do win, you may be liable for any profits derived, punitive damages, plus you are not protected even if you no longer own the domain if you profited from it. It's up to the domain owner if he/she wants to chance it or not.

True. I guess I was just saying that most celebs. etc don't seek lithigation. There are fan sites with pics, lyrics, etc. that the owners could sue ya for using (copyright infringement). I don't think a multimillionaire would sue a person for making $20 a month, though.

This domain is only as limited as the user makes it. Surely if the domain received 500,000 visitors a month, the TM owners might be interested in your domain, solely for its traffic. If they already have beyonce.com, I don't think they'll give much a damn about the .info -- unless the traffic made it worth pursuing.

 

[Jordyn]

I normally won’t put my comment in the appraisal threads, but as someone who deals with a lot of celebrity name domains, I really think you have nothing to worry about.

As I said, I deal a lot with domains like these, and I've never once had a problem with any of them. The fact that I turn most into fan sites I'm sure helps some, but I do have some parked and haven't had a problem with those either. And also, the majority of the celeb domains I have, the choice celeb usually has an official site. That there would really be the only concern I would've had if I were you, but, of course, Beyonce has an official site at the .com, so I highly doubt her or the label she's with will want to go after too terribly many Beyonce domains.

And the fact that it's the .info helps you, too, I think, when it comes to legal issues. You usually won’t see too many celebs with the .info, and really I only know of one that uses the .info, and that's Shandi Finnessey (she uses shandi.info).

Also, since there is more than likely more than one Beyonce, that also helps if you park it.

But really, as long as you don't turn it into a hate or porn site or anything like that, I really don't see any problems for you. And especially if you turn it into a fan site, you should definitely be fine since you wont see too many fan sites shut down by the celeb the site is on.

But in the end, you've definitely got a great name which should definitely be able to fetch you a decent bit, around low-mid XXX or a little more is what I'd aim for.

EDIT: I just want to say that I, of course, could be wrong when it comes to this domain, but I really doubt I am. Everything I said comes from personal experience, and it's really just up to you what you want to do with the name.

Also, if you do develop, just make sure you state clearly that your site is unofficial, and if you use any images that aren't yours, you make sure that you also say you don't claim those images!

 

[VisualArtistFrankBonilla]

Trademark

I have to agree with Dave G. 100%. Beyonce Knwoles has a trademark on "Beyonce", and just about anything related to her: music, clothing, and on and on.

Trademark:

http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=s6k5vc.2.1

Sure, there are other Beyonce's in the world. But, why did you reg this name?

Of course, this is my opinion, and everyone is entitled to there own. I would say: Fan site!

Frank

 

[Archangel]

Exactly -- see my site for an example: www.ozzyasylum.com

I normally won’t put my comment in the appraisal threads, but as someone who deals with a lot of celebrity name domains, I really think you have nothing to worry about.

As I said, I deal a lot with domains like these, and I've never once had a problem with any of them. The fact that I turn most into fan sites I'm sure helps some, but I do have some parked and haven't had a problem with those either. And also, the majority of the celeb domains I have, the choice celeb usually has an official site. That there would really be the only concern I would've had if I were you, but, of course, Beyonce has an official site at the .com, so I highly doubt her or the label she's with will want to go after too terribly many Beyonce domains.

And the fact that it's the .info helps you, too, I think, when it comes to legal issues. You usually won’t see too many celebs with the .info, and really I only know of one that uses the .info, and that's Shandi Finnessey (she uses shandi.info).

Also, since there is more than likely more than one Beyonce, that also helps if you park it.

But really, as long as you don't turn it into a hate or porn site or anything like that, I really don't see any problems for you. And especially if you turn it into a fan site, you should definitely be fine since you wont see too many fan sites shut down by the celeb the site is on.

But in the end, you've definitely got a great name which should definitely be able to fetch you a decent bit, around low-mid XXX or a little more is what I'd aim for.

EDIT: I just want to say that I, of course, could be wrong when it comes to this domain, but I really doubt I am. Everything I said comes from personal experience, and it's really just up to you what you want to do with the name.

Also, if you do develop, just make sure you state clearly that your site is unofficial, and if you use any images that aren't yours, you make sure that you also say you don't claim those images!

 

[sufi]

How about Beyonce fansite on this domain? Will it also create problems?

 

[VisualArtistFrankBonilla]

How about Beyonce fansite on this domain? Will it also create problems?

I think you would have to get permission from Beyonce first, if you wanted to be 100% you would not have TM problems.


Frank

 

[Archangel]

I think you would have to get permission from Beyonce first, if you wanted to be 100% you would not have TM problems.


Frank

You don't need permission to make a fan site
The .info helps with the legality issues in that a site with a .info could seen as an information site, not merely a fan site. I think that would give you more rights to the domain ie it would be used in good-nature, regged with good judgement.

 

[dgridley]

Just my two cents.. but I believe Knarfmusik is correct. You DO need permission to infringe.. you need to show good intent, and asking permission is a good way to do that. Even fan sites are subject to possible litigation.. you don't even need to profit in any way. The TM holder may just decide to protect the TM from dilution.

You don't need permission to make a fan site
The .info helps with the legality issues in that a site with a .info could seen as an information site, not merely a fan site. I think that would give you more rights to the domain ie it would be used in good-nature, regged with good judgement.