Movie Domains

[Phronesis]

Anybody ever have any success / problems with movie domains? I have a few "moviename"movie.com names for movies pending release next year and Traffic is beginning to pick up on some and I'm wondering what kinds of potential risks I have in owning them. Thanks.

 

[verbster]

Did you make up the domain names before the movies were named, or did you reg the names after hearing something about the upcoming movies? Will make a difference, especially if your titles are exactly the same as the upcoming releases or are "confusingly similar" to the upcoming movie titles.

(Hard to understand why any movie maker wouldn't reg the name before releasing it, but guess it happens. On the other hand, I sold a name that is now being used for a movie title.)

Good luck!

 

[Phronesis]

Yeah, these are exactly the same but with "movie" tagged on the end - to the extent that they will certainly get lots of traffic when the films are released. Though at this point (or the point I regged the names), it doesn't appear that the studios have registered any names for the movies. Several of mine are remakes (that's all they make these days - no originality) so it seems an argument could be made for a fan site of the original films . However, one is a film just announced today but not yet in production.

 

[labrocca]

Yeah, these are exactly the same but with "movie" tagged on the end - to the extent that they will certainly get lots of traffic when the films are released. Though at this point (or the point I regged the names), it doesn't appear that the studios have registered any names for the movies. Several of mine are remakes (that's all they make these days - no originality) so it seems an argument could be made for a fan site of the original films . However, one is a film just announced today but not yet in production.

It's common for squatters to take names like this and ride the traffic. The potential risk is $100k fine for each name. You can also lose the domain in a UDRP. You can easily be sued for any income that was produced from the domain while you held it (plus legal fees on both sides). Hey it's your hide. I am sure you were well aware that what you did wasn't kosher.

So now you know the risks point blank.

 

[Phronesis]

It's common for squatters to take names like this and ride the traffic. The potential risk is $100k fine for each name. You can also lose the domain in a UDRP. You can easily be sued for any income that was produced from the domain while you held it (plus legal fees on both sides). Hey it's your hide. I am sure you were well aware that what you did wasn't kosher.

So now you know the risks point blank.

Exactly what I needed to know. Thanks.