|
Written by Felix Da Silva (fdasilva@bitnip.com)
|
|
Thursday, 26 July 2007 |
 According to Reuters, a U.S. podcaster on Wednesday lost the right to operate a Web site "www.thesimpsonsmovie.com"
to attract fans of the cartoon series to sites related to
his own sites.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) ruling found that Malley had
registered the domain name to divert business to linked sites promoting and
selling merchandise associated with the "Keith and the Girl" podcast he
produces.
WIPO, ruled that New York-based Keith Malley must cede control of the "thesimpsonsmovie.com" site to
Twentieth Century Fox which owns the Simpsons trademark.
The arbitrator said the creation of the Simpsons Movie Web site amounted to
"bad faith registration and use" of the address; a practice known as
"cybersquatting."
In this case, WIPO said, Malley at first used the "movie" site to
link to another "that featured off-color and in some cases sexually-explicit
depictions" involving characters from the television series.
A lawyer for Malley had indicated the comedian would be prepared to sell the
site to Twentieth Century Fox for $50,000, WIPO said. The offer was refused by
the film company.
Cybersquatting a site and registering it in bad faith then trying to sell it back to the supposed owners is a big "D'oh" move. As Homer would say, 'Hmmmm.... trademarks (drools)"
|
