Does the purcase of a domain name entitle you to content?

[lampietheclown]

I ran an adult website from 1999 to 2004. The content was shot by me, and the images were all watermarked with ©nameofthesite.com and the year they were posted. In the end, I failed to pay the hosting company, and the site was taken down.

About a year later, the time ran out on the domain name, and it was purchased by one of those companies that holds thousands of names, and no sites. Forward about 3 years, to last November, and the domain was up for auction. The guy who won the bidding is now claiming ownership of all the content, because the images and video were marked with the domain name instead of my name. He claims he bought the content along with the domain name, from the company who held it for three years. I think he got it from an ex-employee of mine, but who can say?

Now he has sent the content in to be registered, something I failed to do when the site was up, and saw no need for after it closed.

My thoughts are:
A) I was the sole owner and the website name was a dba. Just because someone else takes up the name after I go out of business, does not give them rights to my inventory.

B) The content was all derivative works, photoshopped, cropped, and edited. None of the raw images or video was posted. If I still hold the rights to the original work, I also hold the rights to the derivative work, especially since I created the derivitives.

C) I hold the models releases.

Anybody want to find the holes in my thinking? I'm not looking for "nice", I'm looking for honest. Now is the time for me to find the weak spots, or strengths I hadn't noticed, should there be any.

I'm curently organizing the raw images to send in, even though he has quite a jump on me time wise. Can anybody tell me how the Copyright Office has handled such situations in the past?

Thanks,

Lampie

 

[seniorjudge]

What, exactly, is it that you want to know?

 

[lampietheclown]

I soppose, I'd like to know if I'm right, wrong, or something else, and a little advice from people who have been there, would be a bonus.

I want to fight this, mostly because in principle I know it's wrong, but I also know from experience that my principles don't always line up with what is in the books. When that happens, I tend to loose big time. I'm hoping for some advice that might help me avoid that.

Thank you for asking.

Lampie

 

[seniorjudge]

Well, hire a lawyer ($20K if cheap) and take some time (3 years if quick) and see if your principles win out!

 

[lampietheclown]

Is it possible for someone to give me their opinion of my argument against the other guy's? Maybe part with their knowledge of how the Copyright Office deals with two people trying to register the same images?
SeniorJudge, I'm sorry if my problem is trivial to you. The site header says "free legal advice from lawyers". Is it your advice that I spend 20k and 3 years on this, or are you letting me know what you think of my principles?
It seems very odd to me that you have that particular quote from Mr. Franklin as your signature. How did you come by it?

Lampie

 

[seniorjudge]

Is it possible for someone to give me their opinion of my argument against the other guy's? Maybe part with their knowledge of how the Copyright Office deals with two people trying to register the same images?
SeniorJudge, I'm sorry if my problem is trivial to you. The site header says "free legal advice from lawyers". Is it your advice that I spend 20k and 3 years on this, or are you letting me know what you think of my principles?
It seems very odd to me that you have that particular quote from Mr. Franklin as your signature. How did you come by it?

Lampie

My telling you how much time and how much money you would spend on your lawsuit is not a reflection of the worth of your lawsuit.

If you think I said anything that was not accurate, let me know.

 

[lampietheclown]

Thank you David. Any thoughts on how the Copyright office will deal with the situation, or advice on how I could best make my case when I submit the images?

Lampie

 

[seniorjudge]

Thank you David. Any thoughts on how the Copyright office will deal with the situation, or advice on how I could best make my case when I submit the images?

Lampie

The copyright office will not deal with it.

You must ... well, see my previous advice.

 

[lampietheclown]

SeniorJudge, I have no doubt that your statement could become fact if my situation becomes a lawsuit. Could you help me to find a solution that avoids that wastefull outcome? I don't know anything about submitting to the copyright office. Is there a way to get my situation across with my submission, or is it a matter of here's the content and the $45, and cross my fingers?

Is there, in the copyright system, a way of dealing with disputes? Will the copyright office try to figure out who owns the content, or just turn us both down until we get a judge to decide?

If it has gotten to the point where it takes 3 years and $20K for something like this to be resolved, then it's little wonder that those without the means take matters into their own hands.
WWBS (what would Ben say?)

Lampie

 

[lampietheclown]

Sorry, I was typing and didn't see your answer.

Lampie

 

[lampietheclown]

Another Direction?

Perhaps there is a part of the copyright law that deals with this situation, and hopefully in a way that those other than lawyers can understand it? If I can convince the other guy that he will lose both the content and the $20K he might back down. He's acting on what he thinks the law is, and might be reasonable enough to realize he won't win. Is there case law that can be sited? If so, a well penned letter from an attorney might do it, or if it's REALLY easy to understand, I might be able to get it done myself?
Can you direct me to where I might look for such a thing?

I will exhaust all other possibilities before I exhaust $20K. I just don't have it, and wouldn't spend it on this if I did. The content I'm fighting for isn't worth half that. I'm not saying it's worth nothing, but there is such a thing as perspective.

If on the other hand, it turns out that anyone can steal $5K worth of my work, and be safe in the knowledge that I won't be able to spend $20K in it's defense, well, I'd say I've got bigger problems than keeping posession of some images.

Lampie