Totally OT, but you guys know everything!!

[Mike Hibbert]

Hello All,

We have just created a Board Game Fansite, and are wondering about a potential legal issue.

The site is called

(where xxxxxx is our name).

There are a couple of other sites around.....

which is a Voice over IP reseller site which is a games seller in the US which is a non engligh language Flash site

So, are we breaking any Copyright/trademark/intellectual property rights? We are not doing this commercially, but simply a Fan site vith views and reviews - much like a blog.

Thanks in advance, any help will be much appreciated!

Mike

[Lobster]

Maybe I'm being thick but I'm confused: are you saying that "xxxxx" = "hibbert" in all of the above URLs? Or the name of a trademarked game? or what?

David

[daddyfreddy]

As the name is amongst so many companies, having the domain name itself won't be a problem. It's really down to content after that and only the games reseller is likely to have an issue if they have that name trademarked in the games field.

[Mike Hibbert]

No sorry it was me trying not to be seen as spamming by putting the real URL in.

xxxxxxxis just a work wer came up with, bunged a "the" on the front and used it as a webname, there is not actually a TM'd game just a few other websites with similar sounding names.

I guess the crux is how close is close?

Mike

[EricP]

No real comment can be made on copyright in a specific sense since it differs from country to country. Basically the owner of the name has full rights to exploit it and no one else, without their consent. You are using the name of a game which is a product and may or may not be a trade mark. Most makers are pleased to allow fans to use game names in sites like yours, since it drums up business.

As an example. MS are rabid about their name being used, yet Age of Empires III has many sites, with some of them actively working on game mods that alter the game at code level. Visiting the developers site yesterday, I saw that they are aware of this and upset because some of the mods allow cheating in clan matches. They weren't upset by the mods, just what they could be used for. An update was issued that does a CRC check on all players before a match starts. :))

[Chris Bacon]

You'll be taken for everything you've got.

[Lobster]

Who will?

Every what?

;-)

[Mike Hibbert]

Which isn't that much.....

[Chris Bacon]

I was just joining the pack for a few minutes. Another answer with no context was "No." - or was it "Yes."?