Home > Research Legal Advice > Intellectual Property > Using a celebrity's first name in a domain name and selling an item of c...
Asked over 1 year ago - New York, NY
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I have been thinking of producing a polo shirt that a certain sports celebrity is quite well known for wearing. There is nothing distinctive about the shirt, it looks like any other unbranded shirt you can find in stores, except that the sports celebrity is seen wearing it often.
I was wondering what legal issues might be involved in producing it, marketing it as "[celebrity's first name] shirt" and registered the domain name '[celebrity's first name]shirt.com' to sell it from.
I would only be using the celebrity's first name (not her full name). However, she is generally referred to in the media and among fans by her first name only.
Thank you for your time.
Just an example, but Lindsay Lohan sued an company because a talking baby referred to a baby named lindsay as a milkoholic. It was resolved. I don't know how, but the party being sued spend plenty of money defending. Most celebs that your a single name Madonna, Cher, Beyonce are extremely protective of their name - have trademarked the hell out of it, and sue to protect it. My guess is the name is already registered for a clothing line, but even if not you'll get sued rather quickly.
The other attorneys have come down hard on this question, and they are all right. An easy way to know the answer for yourself in the future is: if you are trying to find a way to exploit or make money from someone else's property whether it is their name, their image, their song, their real estate, or something else, you need written permission from them. That's it--there are no exceptions. Secondly, when planning to make money or otherwise exploit an interest, it is not enough to be right, you also have to look right. That means, for right or wrong, by virtue of their notoriety some individuals and/or businesses have the right to prevent others from using things they don't actually "own" because the general public might think they do. Again, in most cases, the analysis isn't really that difficult if you are honest with yourself. For example, it may be possible for you to invent and own the patent for a golf club--no problem, but if you want to market it as the TygerClub, you can't because a celebrity will be associated with this item even though you own the patent and you've changed the spelling of the name. In most cases, if the association comes to your mind, it will come to the mind of others and you can't do it, even if your child is named Tyger and your family is all about golf. Anytime you are NOT SURE, then you must consult with an experienced IP/business attorney before you take spend another moment thinking about it or you may end up wasting time heading in an impossible direction with an otherwise good plan. Good luck!
As a franchise attorney I entirely agree with the other attorney's answer. As I said in another answer, if you're trying to profit from intellectual property owned by others, you will likely be sued. In this situation, likelihood probably rises to certainty. A celebrity's name has humongous marketing value. Trample with it and you will regret ever having done so.
Kevin B. Murphy, B.S., M.B.A., J.D.
Attorney at Law
Director of Operations - Mr. Franchise
FRANCHISE FOUNDATIONS APC
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