Back in June I posted about how the band Blind Melon was suing me for the domain name BlindMelon.com. Well I was able to get a lawyer through the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and she helped me defend my case to the National Arbitration Forum. The band was accusing me of cybersquatting and they built their case around that but one of the first things they needed to prove was the fact that I had registered the domain in bad faith. Basically that means when I registered the domain my aim was to sell the domain name back to the band for a lot of money.
Well my lawyer emailed me yesterday night and turns out the arbitration forum denied their request to have the domain taken from me and given to them! When my lawyer took the case she told me we had a 50/50 chance of winning so when I read her email and the forums decision I was totally surprised.
How did I win? Well I won because the band failed to convince the forum that I had registered the domain in bad faith. Firstly I didn’t register the domain, it was given to me as a gift from the previous domain holder because he didn’t have time to design a site and he really liked mine. Secondly one of the band members was a regular participant in the site by keeping fans informed on his solo projects. Finally it was common knowledge the band had split up after the lead singer died back in 1995 and the band members were all performing under different band names.
In conclusion, I won the case and I get to keep the domain but after this incident I really hate the band now and all I have to say to them is Fuck you!
If you want to read the Forums decision you can download the original word document by clicking [Here]