In late September, a decision was handed down by the World Intellectual Property Organization in a domain complaint brought by Riot Games against the owner of LeagueofLegendsPorn.com.
As reported earlier in the week, the ruling went in favor of Riot Games (the complainant), and as a result, Florida man Michael Brown (the respondent) was ordered by a single-member panel to transfer the name.
Now details of the WIPO decision have been published online, including an exchange between both parties in which Brown asked for a “transfer” fee of USD 200,000.00.
When Brown first responded to the complaint, he stated he had no intentions of doing anything with www.leagueoflegendsporn.com and that he had “forgot” that he had registered the name. He even said he would gladly hand it over, but when it came time to transfer the name, he wanted a huge cash payout.
Here’s a look at the details of the “back and forth” that Riot Games contends took place, as provided by WIPO:
In February 2012, Respondent registered the disputed domain name.
On or about February 21, 2012, Complainant became aware that Respondent had registered the disputed domain name, which fully incorporates Complainant’s LEAGUE OF LEGENDS mark.
The website associated with the disputed domain name does not host or display any content or provide any services to the public. Instead, it consists of a graphic with the words “Future home of something quite cool” and an invitation for visitors to “please check back soon.”
Upon learning of Respondent’s registration, on March 14,2012, Complainant sent a letter to Respondent. The letter demanded that Respondent immediately discontinue use of the disputed domain name and Complainant’s LEAGUE OF LEGENDS mark, or any variation thereof, and requested that Respondent transfer the disputed domain name to Complainant.
On March 19, 2012, Respondent responded to Complainant, stating that he has “no intentions of doing anything with www.leagueoflegendsporn.com” and that he had “forgot” that he had registered the disputed domain name. Respondent assured Complainant that “the domain name will not be used nor will I use the League of Legends name in any way.” Respondent added that if Complainant needed the disputed domain name, he “will gladly hand it over” and asked for instructions on how to transfer it.
Complainant responded on the same date requiring the transfer of the disputed domain name, and providing instructions on how to do so.
On March 20, 2012, Respondent sent an email Complainant inquiring about “financial compensation” that he would be offered for complying with Complainant’s request.
Complainant responded on April 30, 2012, offering to reimburse Respondent for the cost of registering the disputed domain name.
On May 14, 2012, Respondent rejected the offer stating that it is “simply not enough… the traffic that can be drawn to this website with the millions of league fans is worth too much” and asked for a “significant offer” for the disputed domain name.
On May 16, 2012, Complainant offered to pay USD 250.00 for the disputed domain name in the interests of avoiding legal expenses and time. The next day, Respondent rejected the offer, stating that the website “is predicted to bring in an unrivaled amount of traffic and will be highly competitive in search engines” and asked for a “transfer” fee of USD 200,000.00 based on his “traffic estimates.”
Full details of the leagueoflegendsporn.com decision can be found online at WIPO.
As of today, the name is still registered to Brown according to Whois records.
(Image of Season One Championship via LeagueofLegends.com)
One reply on “Florida man wanted $200,000 for ‘League of Legends Porn’ dot-com domain name”
This is horrible because people like this scum set back domaining decades. There is fair use and what not but when people like him do this stuff it puts everyone at risk.
The person using Ford in the domain because they sell Ford trucks…….
This guy should have to pay for their court costs because this was pure 100% cybersquatting with no case of fair usage.