A change of direction?

IrishJD · Mar 12, 2007

Hi all,

OK... so I've recently been made redundant from a job in the hospitality industry. Been in that game for 12 years now and now that I find myself involuntarily out of it, I am thinking that maybe I should try something else.

So I was surfing the net aimlessly last week when on a whim, I bought 2 domain names, ***********.com and ************.com. These are 2 massive movie releases scheduled within the next 12-18 months - 1st one is the Da Vinci Code prequel and the 2nd is Peter Jacksons next project - both based on worldwide bestselling novels.

Don't ask me why as I have never even considered doing this kind of thing with a view to making money - I know jack about how to even start!

Anyway, yesterday I emailed the hostmaster at Sony Pictures (the Angels and Demons Movie distributors) and informed him/her/it of my intention to sell said domain name. I presume that he/she/it will scoff at such a correspondence and that'll be the end of it but I simply just don't know; was it worth a shot?

So, after a few days of thinking about it, I've decided to pursue this whole arena little further and am looking for some seasoned advice.

Am I too late to get in on this whole thing?

Are the 2 domains that I bought in a moment of delusion likely to be worth anything?

How do I go about learning how to sell the damn things and where should I buy new ones to get the best deal/service?

As a newbie, is it possible to make a living doing this or is it only realistic to approach it from a supplemental income point of view... remember that I'm unemployed and desperate!!

Just to clarify something; I do realise that both of the domain names I purchased are highly specialised and I am looking at more generic or at least broader and more popular keywords to use in future - just so you don't all think that I'm a complete spazz!!

Thanks for reading - any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

JD

retired_member12 · Mar 12, 2007

It's not that they're highly specialised that is a little surprising in your post, it's that you contacted Sony Pictures. I don't think it's such a good idea to contact anyone who may have such specific rights in the domain name you have registered. It's not a scoff you need to consider, rather a claim against you.
Good luck with your domaining, but i'd try to stick to all things generic, its a safer bet.

Admin · Mar 12, 2007

yes don't register such obvious trade marks, not only can they take the name from you but they can sue you too...read here about it before you buy any more.

IrishJD · Mar 12, 2007

See what I mean...??

Hmmm.... good point....:???: Told you I didn't know jack!

Guess I'd better don the old sunnies, mac and panama hat...

Is this a cause for concern? Surely this happens all the time?!? Don't countless private individuals own and sell domain names that may have copyrights attached to them? I just figured that they might have more use for it than me....

I'll have to look into the legality of purchacing a potentially copyrighted title; it's possible that the addition of the suffix "movie" may be beneficial to me.

Or not.

rob · Mar 12, 2007

IrishJD said:
So I was surfing the net aimlessly last week when on a whim, I bought 2 domain names, ... snip ...
Anyway, yesterday I emailed the hostmaster at Sony Pictures (the Angels and Demons Movie distributors) and informed him/her/it of my intention to sell said domain name. I presume that he/she/it will scoff at such a correspondence and that'll be the end of it but I simply just don't know; was it worth a shot?

They may reply saying "give us the names or we will sue / try and reclaim them" or they may buy them off you for a token amount.

Am I too late to get in on this whole thing?

Nope

Are the 2 domains that I bought in a moment of delusion likely to be worth anything?

Not really to be honest.

How do I go about learning how to sell the damn things and where should I buy new ones to get the best deal/service?

read as much information as possible on forums and registry sites so you understand how everything works.

Wait until you think you know everything before spending a penny, and even then read some more before you do.

Remember lots of forums are full of people trying to hype their own names so do not believe everything you read (.mobi is a good recent example).

As a newbie, is it possible to make a living doing this or is it only realistic to approach it from a supplemental income point of view... remember that I'm unemployed and desperate!!

I would focus on learning to begin with and then create a rough strategy on how to proceed, most domainers have different goals and to achieve them it requires different methods.

One other thing that could be useful for you is to look at www.a4uforum.co.uk and look at working domain registration with affiliate based work as well - again read and learn before spending cash - too easy to see 'Spend X on PPC and become rich' but blow a budget

Just to clarify something; I do realise that both of the domain names I purchased are highly specialised and I am looking at more generic or at least broader and more popular keywords to use in future - just so you don't all think that I'm a complete spazz!!

Yup - thats a good start

More and more people are being pulled up on TM and IP infringement so it could be an area to avoid for someone new to the industry.

cheers,
rob.

IrishJD · Mar 12, 2007

Thanks for all the responses so far people, great great help and muchos goodwill is winging in all of your general directions.

Have had a quick sniff around and it seems that the copyright problem would only become an issue if I developed the site with regards to the copyrighted theme or content.

Since I expressly stated in my correspondence that I have no use for the domain name, I can't see this being a problem.

Doesn't mean that's how they'll see it of course but I'll just have to wait and see. I doubt they'll be in touch at all to be honest....

Just as a point of interest, below is the actual correspondence that I sent.

Dear Sir/Madam,

If you have an interest in purchacing the domain name www.********************.com please do not hesitate to contact me by responding to this email. It is of no use to me but would undoubtedly be extremely useful to you in your upcoming marketing and publicity campaign for this title.

I would be happy to consider any offer that you may deem worthy of making.

Regards,

deconstruction · Mar 12, 2007

IrishJD said:
Thanks for all the responses so far people, great great help and muchos goodwill is winging in all of your general directions.

Have had a quick sniff around and it seems that the copyright problem would only become an issue if I developed the site with regards to the copyrighted theme or content.

Since I expressly stated in my correspondence that I have no use for the domain name, I can't see this being a problem.

Doesn't mean that's how they'll see it of course but I'll just have to wait and see. I doubt they'll be in touch at all to be honest....

if you bought the name and put something which did not infringe on their copyright you would probably have been ok (IF you had not emailed them)

your email in essence says "i have bought this name with the sole intention of making money from you and your TradeMark / copyright. contacting big comapnies with domains anything close to their tms or rights is very risky