NONE: Re: ONLINE-ADS>> Ticketmaster Sues Microsoft comments in Ad Bytes
Re: ONLINE-ADS>> Ticketmaster Sues Microsoft comments in Ad Bytes
Ray Taylor (taylor_at_bizbiz.com)
Wed, 14 May 1997 09:22:30 +0100
Steven Heath <Steven_Heath_at_grey.net> wrote:
...
> I think it is MS that should wake up and stop "stealing" other peoples
> brand names.
>
Taking the international intellectual property rights viewpoint, there
should not be a restriction on a simple link from one site to another,
assuming that the target URL was public domain information, which in
almost every case they are. A URL is like a commercial address which the
owner makes every effort to publicise. It cannot, therefore, claim any
rights to the address, nor restrict its use in business directories,
etc.
However, that does not give the host site the right to use the target
site's trademarks or other intellectual property rights. It would be an
actionable breach of copyright and/or other rights to place a copy of
the target site's logo or other graphic devices on the host site. (I do
not know if this is what MS has done, or not).
To use a bridging page without the permission of the target site ought
to give rise to a successful action if the host site misrepresented the
bridging page as belonging to the target site. If this is what Microsoft
has done, then I wish Ticket Master every success, since Microsoft's
intention would seem to be to attract Ticket Master's customers by
creating a false impression that the bridging page belonged to Ticket
Master rather than Microsoft. In English law this might be considered
'passing off'.
When I produced a site covering the Farnborough International Air Show
which took place in the UK last year, I made it absolutely clear that my
site was not the 'official site' and gave the URL of the 'official site'
should any visitors to my site wish to go on to see what the show
organisers had produced. This, I believe, made it clear that I was not
intending to pass my site off as the official site.
Ray Taylor
London
http://www.bizbiz.com/
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