Domain Usage Dispute!

C

CharliBaltimore

Member
Mar 29, 2012
90
1
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Hey guys,

This is long so please bear with me.

I was just informed by an acquaintance that the bed and breakfast he works for has been involved in a long running dispute over their domain name. The name of the B&B is Ragland Bed and Breakfast. It seems that at one time a man who the owner was involved with, but not married to, helped her get the establishment up and running. He registered the domain name,

The Ragland Mansion Petersburg, VA, Bed and Breakfast

in HIS name even though she owns the mansion. They eventually parted ways and the man refuses to relinquish control of the domain name unless she pays him so she went ahead and registered

The Official Website of The Ragland Mansion Guesthouse • Circa 1857 • Petersburg, VA

As you can see from the first site that the man is holding on to, he still has pictures of the b&b up with old prices that are no longer valid, as well as the history of the mansion even though he has no affiliation with the mansion whatsoever now. The problem with this is during searches, raglandmansion.com comes up in the number one spot and ragland-mansion, the legitimate site comes up right below it in spot #2. So, when potential guests click on the site and call to make a reservation, they have to explain to the guests that the first site is not their site and that the pricing has increased 10 bucks for each room per night, this turns a lot of people off and they have lost some business because some people don't understand how a site for their business is not really their site when there are pictures on the site showing their business.

So, what I want to know is, if someone has a domain name for a business that they do not own, can they post pictures of the site and run the site as if it is their own? I know that once a domain name is registered by someone it is legally theirs, but are there not laws against posting content on the site that they are not legally connected with. It would be like me registering wickedfires.com and copying the entire format to the bogus site and carrying on like it is really wickefire.com. They are a small business and want to avoid a costly legal battle, could they appeal to the hosting company as well as the company where they have the domain registered to remove the content? Please help and thank you all!
 


How long has it been since they parted ways, ?
if it was recent you could always wait till it Expires On October 30, 2013
 
He has been renewing it every year it seems since 1999. I don't think he would let it expire since he hasn't in the last 14 years. I don't know how long it's been since the split.
 
There are plenty of legal routes to get this resolved cheaply. However, unless you are getting your knob heavily slobbed, or you're being paid, you shouldn't be wasting your time.
 
Should we start another Albany Plantation Ragland Bed and Breakfast campaign?

:small-smiley-026:
 
If the search engine visitors are using is google, maybe you could send a DMCA takedown notice to get them off the SERP? He is using a picture that dont belong to him right?
 
richcam said:
If the search engine visitors are using is google, maybe you could send a DMCA takedown notice to get them off the SERP? He is using a picture that dont belong to him right?
Click to expand...

He took the pictures of the mansion that are listed on the fake site unfortunately. At one time he apparently was involved in getting the business off the ground by helping with the remodeling and he took those pics, registered the domain name and posted on the site. When they parted ways he left the site as is with the pics and the prices have since increased which is causing the problems when new visitors visit that site.
 
how much does he want? why doesnt she just pay him?

3 options - 1 seem the easiest... 2 & 3 could be combined

1. Pay him, be done with it
2. rep mgmt the new domain
3. File DMCA request with old sites host and have content removed
 
Meatytreats said:
how much does he want? why doesnt she just pay him?

3 options - 1 seem the easiest... 2 & 3 could be combined

1. Pay him, be done with it
2. rep mgmt the new domain
3. File DMCA request with old sites host and have content removed
Click to expand...

She can't afford it. She's a small business owner and doesn't make a lot of money.

I looked up option 3 so I will tell her about it, can you please explain option 2 a little bit more. how would she do that? thanks
 
Everything requires either time or money...

If she is losing business over this, then she needs to stop thinking short term and pay him...

How much does he want for it?
 
a UDRP would cost around 2 grand which might be the cheaper option depending on how much he's asking. There's no guarantee she'd win though, but she could talk to a domain attorney about it.
 
from what you've told us, it sounds like a UDRP is not the right venue since the name was not originally registered in 'bad faith'. This stuff happens all the time and I AM NOT A LAWYER but it sounds like this is a contractual dispute that would need to be resolved privately or in federal court at significant expense.
 
Then try to find nice guys like these

maori_gang.jpg
 
Well...

Another route...

do you know any of the people in the pictures on his site?

If yes, a DMCA with "I do not consent to having my picture published" should do the trick.

As for the $10 a night loss, tell her to eat the losses.
"We are sorry, but you reached us via an old website. However, we will be happy to still accomodate you for the old prices this time."

+ rep with the customers

Then, make sure the customers leave with the info material (and new website)

Make sure to grab the .net and .org of both domain names, (with and without hyphen) 301 to the current domain.

Slowly build a social media presence.

(essentially, build your SEO)

::emp::
 
sheep said:
from what you've told us, it sounds like a UDRP is not the right venue since the name was not originally registered in 'bad faith'. This stuff happens all the time and I AM NOT A LAWYER but it sounds like this is a contractual dispute that would need to be resolved privately or in federal court at significant expense.
Click to expand...

the reason I mentioned a UDRP is because he's no longer a part of this and it sounds like he's using the trademarked domain in bad faith currently. The lady should speak with someone well versed on UDRP because I have passing knowledge of it but I don't follow the cases. I'm not sure a UDRP would be the way to go, but I brought it up because it might be an option.

emp said:
Well...

Another route...

do you know any of the people in the pictures on his site?

If yes, a DMCA with "I do not consent to having my picture published" should do the trick.
Click to expand...

A model release deals with commercial use of your likeness, and if the photographer doesn't have one it could be an option for getting the photos taken down. The person in the photo would probably have to take action and a DMCA isn't the right action for that because you don't gain any copyright by being IN a photo.
 
A UDRP will not be won over this (unless it's an extremely poor decision, which happens occasionally) because of requirements (ii) and (iii). There was a legitimate interest in the name originally and the name was not originally registered in bad faith. (udrp requires current bad faith use + registered in bad faith).

The UDRP requirements:
(i) your domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the complainant has rights; and (ii) you have no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and
(iii) your domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.
 
emp said:
Well...

Another route...

As for the $10 a night loss, tell her to eat the losses.
"We are sorry, but you reached us via an old website. However, we will be happy to still accomodate you for the old prices this time."

+ rep with the customers

Then, make sure the customers leave with the info material (and new website)

Make sure to grab the .net and .org of both domain names, (with and without hyphen) 301 to the current domain.

Slowly build a social media presence.

(essentially, build your SEO)

::emp::
Click to expand...

This sounds like a good plan to me. Losing customers and letting rooms sit empty over the $10/night difference sounds dumb.
 
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