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Using Your Own Name May Be Infringement, Part 2

Posted by timothy on from the this-had-better-be-a-dream dept.

phillymjs writes "We're probably all familiar with Uzi Nissan and his fight to keep his nissan.com domain name from the clutches of Nissan Motors. Well, more same-name idiocy came to light today-- the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting that their staff music writer, Bill Wyman, has received a cease-and-desist letter from lawyers representing former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman, for "a seriously misleading and, arguably, an intentional, unauthorized exploitation of our client's name, goodwill and publicity value." It should be interesting to see how this one plays out, because Bill Wyman the musician was born William George Perks and changed his name to Bill Wyman in 1964. Journalist Bill Wyman was given that name at his birth in 1961."

6 of 665 comments (clear)

  1. stupid linking habits gripe by kisrael · · Score: 3, Offtopic

    the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting that

    Jeez. Here, "Atlanta-Journal-Constitution is" links to the (relatively useless) frontpage of the newspaper site, while "reporting" is the single word that links to the article. There's not even any space between the links!

    Hello people! We know how to backtrack URLs to get to the main site....assuming it's not an obvious domain from the journal name, and even then it's highly likely that the actual article page will have a nice fat old link to the main site. Jeez.

    --
    SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
  2. It's not like there's a reputation! by Chastitina · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    So who the heck has heard of Bill Wyman?

    And why would anyone care about the former Rolling Stone?

    His use of the domain name for individual promotion isn't any more critical to his career than the present owner. It certainly wasn't important enough for him to register it when it was available.

    Perhaps he could learn a lesson from his former band mates? The Rolling Stones are well known, but nonetheless they've certainly have a reasonable understanding with the magazine of the same name.

    Why couldn't the *former* member compromise about this as well (especially since the owner was born wtih that name)? billwyman.org or williamwyman.com or any of a dozen variants are readily available.

  3. Does anyone have the link... by name_already_in_use · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    because billwyman.com is the official Bill Wyman fansite, so where is the other Bill Wyman's site that is causing so much fuss?

    --


    Rake Free + Mac Poker: CardCrusade
  4. Re:That's nothing.. by tigertigr · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    And then you started the Disney corporation?

  5. MS says my name infringes on their EULA by tekunokurato · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    When I tried to sign up for a hotmail account several years ago, the company would not accept my last name (Phelps), because it says the word is restricted or explicit, and violated the terms of the EULA.

    --
    Read jack phelps dot net
  6. www.InsensitiveClod? :) by MadLibs · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    looks like www.InsensitiveClod.com isnt taken. anyone think /. will sue me if i try to register that?