The full story is here...

Penguin and the great katie.com hijack

But here's the short Slashdot blurb.

i need to trademark somestuff , any guide on that ?

If i owned Katie.com I would ask for a huge ammount from the book company. I mean they are blatenly pushing her around and they knew about it before the book title was released. When they say no I would sell my domain to a pr0n company! If they really pissed me off I would make sure that it was the Katie - who just turned 18 and looks like a 13 year old school girl kind of site!!!!

The whole point is, the owner of the katie.com domain doesn't want to give it up. The domain was a gift to her from her husband so if nothing else, it holds sentimental value. Kate Jones just wants her normal life back where she can continue to post pictures of her baby, her resume, etc...the media attention has even started to affect her business, which coinidentially is an online chat service.

Ok, so some person has a website in 1996.

In 2000, some publishing company titles a book using that domain name.

The publishing company won't retitle the book because it would violate their right to free speech, since the domain name is trademarked.

So the owner of the domain name is supposed to give up the domain name?

I understand not retitling the book because it isn't actually a trademarked term, but how does that give the person from the book the right to take the domain name? Personally, I think the owner of katie.com might be able to sue over the name of the book, even though it isn't trademarked. More along the lines of libel. Not the fact that they used "katie.com", but that they confused the two together.

I think I'm going to go write a book about hiding from Nazis called "The Safehouse". After that, I'm going to call my lawyer...

P.S. I like the idea of selling the domain to a porn site as revenge, though a judge would probably be more likely to take the name from the porn site than from some random person using it as a personal site.

InvisiBill, just to clarify:

That is what she wants but it is never going to happen. There is no way that a published book with that kind of sales are going to rename their book. They get a lot of advertisement from word of mouth so if they change the name of the book that kind of goes away.

They legally have no reason to change the name of the book so Katie.com is kind of screwed. She really has three choices! She either learns to deal with it, talks them out of some money(sues, whatever), or gets pissed and screws with them!

I do understand her position and understand how she feels. That was why if i was in her position I would do what I posted earlier!

Yeah, but they were aware of this domain being taken before they named the book. The other Katie has her own domain katiet.com. They deliberately CHOSE to NOT use that domain and instead use a domain owned by another person. Tell me that isn't being a jackass bastard. All they had to do before publishing would have been to add in one T. One T and they never would have ended up bullying some innocent person they knew had that domain. They're being pushy bastards and I sincerely hope that woman gets some good lawyer who'll work for for % of damages awarded who can win her this case, because I don't like bullying bastards who know they're being bullying bastards and don't care that what they're doing is wrong.

I am in no way disagreeing with you in any way shape or form. But due to the fact that she didnt trademark katie.com anyone can use the words katie.com for what ever reason they choose as long as you dont slander or some bs like that.

I will refer to my orginal post in the thread. I would be a jerk and do everything in my power to screw over the book!

Id take of the disclaimer its not the books website just to **** w/ there book sales via porn ads. Real good ones to, animal type ****.

I say sell it to one of the pr0n studios if the dinks don't want to give her a small amount of money... like say.. 25 million dollars.

They want to commit what amounts to an emotional attack on this poor woman, let her send a giant boot to the privates to the woman that was victimized by letting her precious trademark of Katie.com be associated with a super large pr0n site. Im sure that will help their book sales.

Then of course go to the local tabloid anon tip line and inform them of the connection in naming from the book and said pr0n site.

Bully that.

-L

pr0n. The tool of justice!

I'd actually also have to go with switching to porn to make the point if they presist in acting like shitheads and money gets tight, she could both make some cash and mess their reader's heads up. All naked Katies @#$% all the @#$%ing time. For maximum effect it would of course have to have the traditional "barely legal teens" section.

If she went the porn route...couldn't the company then turn around and sue her for attempted defamation or libel or slander or whatever it might be? Since she obviously knows they are using her site as name recognition for the book..and she's being bullied...
I wouldn't put it past a company to turn around and say she's attempting to hurt their business sales and all that, thus making her the bad guy.

Vilk

Anything she does keeps the story in the news, which is what penguin wants. Free publicity is the best kind.

I am no expert but I dont she how they could say it. It was her web site. She is free to do with it as she pleases. She is on record owning it since 1996. What she chooses to do with her own website is up to her even if that includes putting up pr0n. As long as she doesnt libel or slander the book I just dont see how they can force the site from her or stop her from doing any legal thing she wants with the site.

According to Katie.com, Penguin apparently decided to change the book.

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