Domain name copyright question millerbeers.com
 

i own the domain name millerbeers.com (millerbeer.com is the one that miller beer comany uses) does anyone know if i try to do anythin with this website is there any way i can get in trouble, legal wise?

depends what you are gonna use it for.

and, how youare gonna go about getting the traffic to it. if you in anway insinuate that you are them or use their search terms, thy'll get you in a minute.

however if your last name is miller and you have some homebrew small business and you sell your beer online, you will be ok as long as your site doesnt lok anything like theirs and you can tell that there is a clear degree of seperation.

It's copyright infringement if they want the domain they can have it...

so no matter what im out the $8 it cost me to register it, can i sell it to them?

Give it to them, they will get it if they want it.

If I register millercatspiss.com, would they sue me for that?

that blows i figured i could make somethin off it

Sure. Send them an email and tell them you demand at least 10 grand for it. Make sure you include the fact that you registered it simply to sell it to them for a profit. You'll be doing them a great favor.

sarcastic?

Not at all...why do you ask?

you serioulsy think they are gonna give me ten grand for it?

You're trying to profit off of someone else's established trademark and recognized brand.

That's called infringement any way you look at it and their lawyers will have a field day with you if they so choose.

dunno about the legal issues, but their beer is good :thumbsup

so its a bad idea to ask for some compensation in exchange of doin them a favor and handin over the domain name? I would like to turn any kind of profit however i would rather not go to prison or court

If you use it to market things other than beer you may be ok. It also wouldn't hurt to contact them and ask them if they'd like to buy it from you.

First of all, it is NOT copyright infringement, it is TRADEMARK infringement.

Secondly, "doing them a favor" is also a violation of the cybersquatting laws.

By law, their trademark for Miller Beer also covers any plurals or misspellings.

You can't do a thing with it.

This sounds right

i understand that i cant do anything with it, would it hurt to ask them if they wanted to buy it or would that just slap me with a suit. You think they might trade me beer for it :)

You can offer to sell it to them for what you paid for it, $8, and even that is risky. Asking for anything more would be a huge no-no, a criminal no-no I believe.

How many typeins?

i registered it awhile ago not sure how much typein traffic it gets, wanted to make sure i wasnt breakin any laws before i did anything with it

You'll prob get screwed soon, but maybe you can create a "Fan Site" related to their brand prasing it and see if you can get off with that.

what supprises me is that miller didnt use millerbeers.com instead of millerbeer.com, you figure they have several different beers, havein it plural makes more sense

What grade are you in?

do you idiots think before you buy domain names?


:1orglaugh

mabye millerbeer.com would be a more suiteable name however they do sell miller light ect you think they would take millerbeers.com as well. Suckonthis i have to ask you the same question, your the one telling me to email them and demand 10k for the name. I mean worse comes to worse they sick their lawyers on me and i relinquish the domain name.

It is not copyright infringement.


Trademark is another story:winkwink:

No, worse comes to worse, you pay them $200,000 for infringement and whatver legal fees you may have incured.

Cybersquatting is illegal.

:glugglug

Don't be issuing advice if you don't know what you are talking about. Especially in legal matters.

they can sue you.. cause they have money

steen what do you suggest is the best course of action here, drop the domain name, email miller and offer it to them ( and hope mabye they give me some free beer out of it), or try to make it into a unrealted site/fan site, or anyone else with any inputs is appreciated, am i introuble for just registering the name?

What you can do is go buy a few cases of miller, get a bunch of friends over for halloween. Get wasted, snap picutes of you having fun and then post them on a site with this domain. Then, miller MIGHT let you keep it.

Anything else, I would just give it to them. This name is so blatently copywright infringement it isn't funny.

If [his] last name is miller and [he] has some homebrew small business and [he] sells beer online, [he may] be ok as long as [his] site doesnt lok anything like theirs and you can tell that there is a clear degree of seperation.

Capiche?

If it were me, I would test type in traffic first, but I wouldn't *recommend* that. It doesn't appear to have much typo traffic anyways. Safest option is to email your registrar (GoDaddy) and ask to delete the domain name.

No, Miller is generic and fine. "Miller beer" is pretty obviously not.

You know, its funny cause every week a new person comes here thinking they have hit the internet 'jackpot' with these domains. It shows you the world is filled with people who would rather waste time trying to scam companies, than doing anything productive.

LOL

Doesn't matter. There are clearly defined terms that must be met for a ruling to go in favor of trademark infringement. If the above was true about him, he'd have a strong case, and could win.

get rid of the domain..
i used to have a domain years back that was something like "telekom.tld".. one letter was missing and they (a telco company, a big one) werent really friendly to me. after all, i lost some $.. arround 2k.. sell it to them for $8 or tell the domain registrar to drop / delete it now.

If i was you, i will give it to them, and hope they give you something back in return. Just for you saving them court time, and all the bullshit they will have to do to take it.:Graucho

could i get in trouble if i offer it to them for free then if they dont want it, drop it?

now your think like an american :)

Mike, you said this:

" It also wouldn't hurt to contact them and ask them if they'd like to buy it from you."

That is certainly not true.

what are the terms, i was lookin at some receint domain name lawsuits of similar nature didnt come across what the clearly defined terms were

Well since your name isn't Miller they won't apply to you and you probably don't stand a chance.

One term is clear intent on "piggy-backing" their good name for commercial purposes.

You're right

Well the guy did say in another thread

As the owner of licos.com, trypod.com, hotbott.com, nationsbanking.com, wmsn.com, etc I can tell you this:

You cannot knowingly register another companies brand and then try to sell it to them... this is domain squatting. Miller is a beer company and they have the appropriate trademarks. I get away with some of these because they are a radio station, a type of dog, a mispelling for a camera stand, etc. But these companies still tried.

You are asking for it to hold on to this name or try to sell it to them. At best case scenario they are going to take you to ICANN arbitration (which costs them a $10K filing fee) and you will have to turn over the domain. Worse, they could get ICANN to rule that you need to turn it over then sue you for that 10K. Still worse, they can take you to open court (in their home state) and file damages against you.

Once a big company files a lawsuit against you, you are out at least 60K in legal fees. Guarenteed. I went up against Bank of America for nationsbanking.com and won the ICANN suit. I thought I had it made and then B of A sued me in court. I turned over the domain and thankfully they called the dogs off.