Legalities of starting a site:trademarks, inc/LLC, IRS, etc.

[David Roth weiss]

[Jay Soriano] “If I had a name for example, Sony.tv would that be copyright/trademark infringement? “

I don’t think calling your site Sony.tv would be very smart Jay. I have a sneaky suspicion there might be a company out there somewhere already using that name.

Come up with some potential names and search them yourself first. There are many useful searches you can do before getting lawyers or other pros involved. Begin with Google, the move on to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website. Once you’ve found something that appears to be available, then pay to have that name searched professionally and registered.

As for how choose to setup your business, that’s a matter for your accountant and lawyer. You don’t absolutely need a corporation or LLC, those just add layers of protection, and they have tax consequences that can be beneficial or not depending upon where you live and what your tax bracket happens to be. Individuals can certainly own websites however, there’s nothing that says you have to a separate business entity.

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles

POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™

A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.

[Jay Soriano]

Thanks for the quick response David. I was using Sony.tv only as an example. But let’s say Sony doesn’t have the dot tv domain. Wouldn’t I have the right to use that domain and include it in my company name, Sony.tv since it was never registered? ie: Let’s say there was an electronics company named CreativeCow. They did not register their site w/ the suffix, .net. Mr. Lindenbloom starts up Creativecow.net which offers nothing related to what the company CreativeCow offers. Wouldn’t this be the domain’s ownes legal right? thanks again.

[David Roth weiss]

I knew Sony.tv was just an example… But, just because Sony didn’t register that site doesn’t mean you’re not trying to capitalize on their brand or that you’re not harming their image. They would send you a cease and desist order immediately.

The bottom line is, if someone uses the name to make a profit, and they can prove they used it first, you’re most likely infringing on their rights if you even get close to their name. And, the more money they make on that name, the farther afield you better stay from anything even close.

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles

POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™

A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.

[Walter Biscardi]

[Jay Soriano] “. But let’s say Sony doesn’t have the dot tv domain. Wouldn’t I have the right to use that domain and include it in my company name, Sony.tv since it was never registered? “

You could, but the moment you did that, Sony would sue you to get the domain back and they would win. It’s cybersquatting or taking their name. They’ll be able to very easily defeat you either in court or with ICANN and take the domain back along with giving you a cease and desist order for your company name.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author.
Credits include multiple Emmy, Telly, Aurora and Peabody Awards.
Owner, Biscardi Creative Media featuring HD Post
Biscardi Creative Media

Creative Cow Forum Host:
Apple Final Cut Pro, Apple Motion, Apple Color, AJA Kona, Business & Marketing, Maxx Digital.

Read my Blog!

Twitter!

[Mike Cohen]

If you recall last year a company called U Tube was suddenly getting a lot of traffic. Apparently this metal tube company sold their domain because the site is now garbage.

I am not sure exactly what information you are looking for. Your original post combines questions about the need to incorporate with being worried about trademark infringement. Thus, do you mean that you have a business name/website name that is similar to an existing company? Caution. Having an LLC does not prevent someone from taking legal action if you have infringed upon their IP.

Oddly, there is a film festival in France called Cinemed, but not really competition to us. The name is a coincidence, since the “med” in Cine-Med refers to medicine, not the Mediterranean Sea. In fact, we dig French cinema.

Mike Cohen

[Todd Terry]

People have fought these domain battles before… and almost always lost. I’ve heard several stories of people registering company names (with non-.com suffixes) and either attempting to cash in on the cache of the name, or sell the domain to the big daddy company for big bucks.

These have gone to court, and the established well-known company has always prevailed.

In our own industry, I believe I recall that happened to Panavision.

People can get very possessive about their domain names, and rightly so. In the early days of my company, Fantastic Plastic, we wanted to register fantasticplastic.com… but alas, it was already taken (by a used record shop in Seattle) so we settled for the much-clunkier hyphenated fantastic-plastic.com. Later though we realized the value of the “better” domain and coughed up enough cash to convince the other company to sell us the domain name. It wasn’t cheap.

Interestingly enough, there is also a British record label (mostly indie bands) named Fantastic Plastic. Their domain is identical to ours except they have the .co.uk suffix. We used to get quite a few misaddressed emails intended for them.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Tim Kolb]

You’re much better off to get a domain name that is unique and grab all the suffixes.

I’d do some synonym searches based on what meaning or topic you want to address and start searching domains that way.

TimK,
Director, Consultant
Kolb Productions,

[Jay Soriano]

so what about sites such as paypalsucks.com and slight lettering change as iphilm.com(instead of ifilm). are these sites possibly candidates on infringement?

i understand that it is best to find a name is unique so thank you all for your informative advice. =)

now, as far as LLC, it is not necessary but beneficial for a website owner?

how about an IRS EIN#?

[Tim Kolb]

I suspect “paypalsucks.com” can claim satire or some such free speech issue… However, if you decided to register something like “sonycameras.com” or something similar, you’re intentionaly causing confusion. Nobody will erroneously attempt to alter their paypal account by confusing the site with “paypalsucks.”

The oversimplified essence of LLC or INC is a business structure that protects you from liability, but some variations will also create more tax prep/accounting work.

An EIN (employer identification number in the USA) is, as it implies, the tax reference for an employer that needs to withhold payroll taxes. If you have no employees, you could hold off until you grow and need to hire. There is additional tax prep work involved with an EIN, though it’s minimal if you have no employees.

You’re best off consulting an accountant and/or attorney on specifics of how any particular business structure would affect you.

TimK,
Director, Consultant
Kolb Productions,

[Jay Soriano]

Thank you Tim. So probably the most important thing right now is to search and apply for a trademark before launching my site? Also, I have a couple of ideas for different company names(but sound similar). Will I need to spend $$ for a search of each one? Thanks again!