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Are domain names copyrighted?

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Aug 07.2010

I couldn’t find much information about copyright laws on domain names. The closest I found is the following, which is the copyright law for domain names in China:

[QUOTE]

1. The civil rights and interests requiring protection in the proceeding are legal and valid;
2. The defendant’s domain name or the main part thereof is the replication, imitation, translation or transliteration of plaintiff’s well-known trademark, or is the same as or similar with the registered trademark, domain name of the plaintiff, capable of causing confusion among relevant public;
3. The defendant neither has rights and interests in the domain name or the main part thereof, or has any justifiable reason for registering, using the domain name; and
4. The defendant is malicious in registering, using the domain name.

[/QUOTE]

From [url]http://www.sh148.org/English/11789.html[/url]

Does this mean that I can register a domain like num1microsoft.com as long as I’m not “malicious”?

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13 Comments(s) ↴

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@FangAug 07.2010 — These are for sale, so you should be able to register the suggested domain.
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@tirnaAug 07.2010 — You might also have to consider whether any words or phrases you use in a domain name have been trademarked (which is not the same as copyright) or are very similar to a trademark
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@narutodude000authorAug 07.2010 — I registered 20+ websites like 贝宝.net(Paypal),奥多比系统.com(Adobe Systems),我乐网.com(56.com - the Chinese version of Youtube),劉謙.com(China's best magician),飛輪海.com(China's best male singing group), etc.

They would definitely be ok compared to the link provided by Fang, but I'm sure some of them infringe trademarks. What should I do? Is it ok if I only put "Domain for sale" on the trademarked domains?
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@tirnaAug 08.2010 — I registered 20+ websites like 贝宝.net(Paypal),奥多比系统.com(Adobe Systems),我乐网.com(56.com - the Chinese version of Youtube),劉謙.com(China's best magician),飛輪海.com(China's best male singing group), etc.

They would definitely be ok compared to the link provided by Fang, but I'm sure some of them infringe trademarks. What should I do? Is it ok if I only put "Domain for sale" on the trademarked domains?[/quote]

If it was me, I would get advice from a lawyer who is qualified and experienced in this area of law.
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@narutodude000authorAug 08.2010 — I came across a website that stated that I can use their trademarks in my domain as long as I do not pretend I am that company. For example, if I register microsoft.com, I can't sell Windows as Microsoft.

I also realized that what I'm doing is called "cybersquatting". I found this from Wikipedia: Cybersquatting (also known as domain squatting), according to the United States federal law known as the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, 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.[/QUOTE]
This sounds like Wikipedia considers cybersquatting bad, but I personally think it's smart.

What do you guys think of cybersquatting? Is it good or bad?
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@tirnaAug 08.2010 — I came across a website that stated that I can use their trademarks in my domain as long as I do not pretend I am that company. [/quote]

What is the url to that website?

I think you will find that laws can vary from country to country.
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@narutodude000authorAug 09.2010 — I forgot the URL when I posted the previous post. It's here: http://www.murdoch.edu.au/elaw/issues/v7n3/kilian73.html
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@tirnaAug 09.2010 — I am not a legal expert, but my interpretation of note 1 is that unless you are bound by the US law, then local laws will apply.

Bottom line (for me at least) is get advice from a qualified lawyer experienced in the local laws in this area of law.

If someone hauls you infront of a judge and jury I doubt very much a defence saying I read on the internet that I could do what I did will carry much weight ??
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@narutodude000authorAug 09.2010 — I emailed this to Intel:I registered 英特尔公司.com (literally "intel company.com") a few days ago, hoping to be able to sell it for a higher price. Today I realized that I might've infringed your trademark. If that is the case, please let me know and I will cancel the domain.[/QUOTE]

This email does two things at once:

1. The answer to this question would come from a lawyer, which Intel hired/will hire. It saves me the money to go to a lawyer and I get to know the answer.

2. It's saying "Intel, I have your website in Chinese, you want it?"

Assuming the people at Intel aren't heartless, they won't sue me even if I infringed their trademark. I'll post their reply when it arrives.
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@tirnaAug 09.2010 — How you handle the legalities of your domain name registrations is totally up to you.

But playing devil's advocate here, whether any reply you get is legally binding or not might also depend, amongst other things, on whether you addressed the email to the appropriate person in the company, whether the person replying has the authority or not to speak on behalf of the company regarding legal issues and whether the reply has an actual signature on it or not.

Personally, I wouldn't make any assumptions about any reply you might get. I would still pass on any reply onto my lawyer to authenticate and validate any reply...but that is just me.

Good luck ?
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@narutodude000authorAug 09.2010 — Thank you for contacting Intel and inquiring about our trademark usage guidelines.

For further assistance, please contact Intel's Trademarks and Brands group on our Web site listed here: www.intel.com/intel/legal/contact.htm

Best regards,

Tamara H.

Intel Customer Support


Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.

*Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

A representative of Intel may subsequently contact you (by e-mail) in order to obtain your feedback on the quality of the support you received. If you do not want to participate, simply delete the survey e-mail.[/QUOTE]
This is either "it's not trademarked" or a bot. I'll try sending emails to other companies.
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@aj_nscAug 09.2010 — ...or, you could send an e-mail to Intel Trademarks and Brands, as the customer support suggested...

In my opinion, if you're really interested in finding out about it, then that's what I'd do.
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@Sabrina_Gage2Aug 23.2010 — That's not possible. In China,personnal domain nanme users should put on record of theri domain,but I didn't heard of this kind of law since now.
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