Performer Lady Gaga (And Her Mom) Defend Internet Domain

Well-known performer Lady Gaga successfully gained ownership of a web address in the name of her foundation, according to a World Intellectual Property Organization document released today.

The domain, ladygagafoundation.com, was the subject of a domain name dispute filed at WIPO on 23 December 2015.

According to the WIPO dispute decision, the domain was filed by Deborah Allen of Orlando, Florida, with the purpose of blogging and possible sale of the domain.

For background, the WIPO decision states: “Complainant Stefani Germanotta, professionally known as Lady Gaga, is a performer and recording artist, and one of the most famous entertainers in the world. Lady Gaga’s company, Complainant Ate My Heart Inc., owns several trademark registrations for the mark LADY GAGA. The LADY GAGA marks cover entertainment services, apparel, and other goods and services, and the first use in commerce of the LADY GAGA marks goes back to September 2006.”

It continues: “In 2012, Complainant Lady Gaga and her mother co-founded Born This Way Foundation, a not-for-profit entity dedicated to ‘teaching advocacy, promoting civic engagement and encouraging self-expression, with a particular mission to empower young people with the skills and opportunities that will inspire them to create a kinder and braver world.’ The Internet website for the Born This Way Foundation is located at ‘www.bornthisway.foundation’. The home page at this website features a caricature of Lady Gaga.

The disputed domain name was registered on November 15, 2015. “It resolved to a website featuring a caricature of Lady Gaga almost identical to the one at the Born This Way Foundation website, according to the decision. The respondent’s website prominently stated that the Domain Name is ‘for sale’ with an asking price of USD 1,000,000. There was a ‘contact us’ hyperlink which reiterates the USD 1,000,000 sale price with the added word ‘negotiable’,” the decision said.

A cease-and-desist letter was sent on 1 December, to which the respondent replied that the website was for sale, that two offers had already been received (for $7000 and $4000) but that she would prefer to sell it to the Lady Gaga foundation itself.

Sometime after the takedown letter was sent, some blog posts were added to the website, which was given the headline, “This Lady’s Going Gaga.” It includes several blog posts asserting that Lady Gaga and her mother had spent more on “lawyers, publicity and consultants than on charity.”

The WIPO dispute panel found the domain name created in bad faith, and confusingly similar: “Complainant [Lady Gaga] clearly holds rights in its registered trademark LADY GAGA. The Domain Name incorporates this distinctive mark in its entirety and adds the descriptive word ‘foundation’. In the Panel’s view, this additional word does very little to reduce the confusing similarity between the famous mark and the Domain Name.”

The decision said the respondent did not reply to the complainant’s contentions. But the day after receiving the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center’s January 20, 2016 “Notification of Respondent Default,” the respondent sent the Center an email simply stating: “I bought this domain for my blog legally through go daddy domains. No one has the right to take it away.”

 

Image Credits: Michael Spencer