Abstract: ... This article suggests that if personal names merit legal protection in cyberspace, it should be under an appropriate set of legal rules, rather than through further expansion of trademarks. This Article develops a new framework for personal domain name disputes based on the theories underlying the right of publicity tort.
This paper was written by Jacqueline D. Lipton and appeared in the Washington and Lee Law Review
Abstract:
When the Oscar-winning actress, Julia Roberts, fought for control of the
domain name, what was her aim? Did she want to reap economic benefits
from the name? Probably not, as she has not used the name since it was
transferred to her. Or did she want to prevent others from using it on
either an unjust enrichment or a privacy basis? Was she, in fact,
protecting a trademark interest in her name? Personal domain name
disputes, particularly those in the
Unlike trademark law, this tort is aimed at the protection of
individual names and likenesses. It has not been utilized much in
cyberspace largely because of time, cost, and jurisdictional
disadvantages of litigation as opposed to the quicker and cheaper, but
trademark-based, Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy
("UDRP"). This article suggests the creation of a new personal domain
name dispute resolution policy ("PDRP") that combines the procedural
advantages of the UDRP with the theory underlying the right of
publicity tort.
To read the article in full, see ssrn.com/abstract=1124596.