I took a class in grad school on “Law of the Press.” One of the interesting parts dealt with how public figures are at the mercy of the public when it comes to photos and parodies.

Basically, they told us, if you are in the public eye, you can’t sue or win a case that deals with your name. I’m going to post a few things that I found regarding domain name cases and if you have any interesting cases, I’d like to see the post.

Tom Cruise actually won the case. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) gave Tom has name back (lol)…the tomcruise.com domain name registration. The reason why he could get it back was because a company, Alberta Hot Rods was using his name. The site bumps visitors to another place which tries to sell you something.

Alberta Hot Rods also had unofficial sites for Kevin Spacey, Michael Crichton, and Celine Dion.

Out of curiosity, I typed in tomcruise.com and it just bumps you to a search list, no website.

Just found an article, Kevin Spacey sued the same domain owner that Tom Cruise did and won. I tried to find info on Alberta Hot Rods, but no luck and no official website. Michael Andretti also sued and won.

Actually, the likelihood of winning a lawsuit regarding a domain name or other registered trademark for a celebrity or product name often hinges on whether the person or company has protected themselves by copyright or trademark. Some celebs actually trademark their name (though it must be unique in order to do that) in order to protect themselves. Other times, the cases hinge on what the defendent is using the name to do. If it is clearly to promote products or information related to the person or product they DO NOT own, then they are likely to be told to cease and desist.