- Joined
- Apr 8, 2005
- Messages
- 8,011
- Reaction score
- 58
Story
The latest battle over an Internet domain name (remember those?) is being fought between an online entrepreneur and a major movie studio looking to make a long-delayed film sequel.
In September, an intellectual property lawyer for MGM Studios sent a letter to Rogers Cadenhead, who owns the Web domain Wargames.com, accusing him of âunauthorized use and registrationâ of that name and three other names related to MGMâs âRockyâ movie franchise. Mr. Cadenhead agreed to turn over the âRockyâ related names to MGM but refused to give up Wargames.com. On Dec. 18, Mr. Cadenhead was notified that MGM had filed a complaint with the National Arbitration Forum, which mediates many Web domain-related disputes.
The grounds for MGMâs claim go back over two decades. MGMâs 1983 movie âWar Gamesâ starred Matthew Broderick as a teenage video game geek who accidentally almost started a global nuclear war. But MGM did not register âWar Gamesâ for a trademark until 2001 â three years after Mr. Cadenhead bought the Web name. Now, MGM wants the address.
Nathan J. Hole, MGMâs lawyer, declined to comment.
âWeâre laughing about the whole situation,â said Mr. Cadenhead, an author of computer books who lives in Florida and uses Wargames.com to sell video and tabletop war games. âWe didnât expect to have MGM come after us for our war games shop.â The Web site had been unused for several years after Mr. Cadenhead registered it in 1998, while he gathered capital to open the online store. He said that while he had intended to open the store on the day after Thanksgiving this year, he decided to open it in September after receiving Mr. Holeâs letter, in order to prove that he had a legitimate purpose for the Web site.
The latest battle over an Internet domain name (remember those?) is being fought between an online entrepreneur and a major movie studio looking to make a long-delayed film sequel.
In September, an intellectual property lawyer for MGM Studios sent a letter to Rogers Cadenhead, who owns the Web domain Wargames.com, accusing him of âunauthorized use and registrationâ of that name and three other names related to MGMâs âRockyâ movie franchise. Mr. Cadenhead agreed to turn over the âRockyâ related names to MGM but refused to give up Wargames.com. On Dec. 18, Mr. Cadenhead was notified that MGM had filed a complaint with the National Arbitration Forum, which mediates many Web domain-related disputes.
The grounds for MGMâs claim go back over two decades. MGMâs 1983 movie âWar Gamesâ starred Matthew Broderick as a teenage video game geek who accidentally almost started a global nuclear war. But MGM did not register âWar Gamesâ for a trademark until 2001 â three years after Mr. Cadenhead bought the Web name. Now, MGM wants the address.
Nathan J. Hole, MGMâs lawyer, declined to comment.
âWeâre laughing about the whole situation,â said Mr. Cadenhead, an author of computer books who lives in Florida and uses Wargames.com to sell video and tabletop war games. âWe didnât expect to have MGM come after us for our war games shop.â The Web site had been unused for several years after Mr. Cadenhead registered it in 1998, while he gathered capital to open the online store. He said that while he had intended to open the store on the day after Thanksgiving this year, he decided to open it in September after receiving Mr. Holeâs letter, in order to prove that he had a legitimate purpose for the Web site.