Green Day show heads to Broadway; rock group wants domain name.
Alternative rock band Green Day has filed for arbitration to get the AmericanIdiot.com domain name. The timing of its arbitration request is not coincidental.
Green Day’s American Idiot album was released back in 2004 and won a Grammy for Best Rock Album in 2005. Hit singles from the album include “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and “Wake Me Up When September Ends”.
So why go after the domain name now, five years later? Green Day’s American Idiot musical is heading to Broadway. The musical premiered at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and was extended multiple weeks. More information about the musical is at Rolling Stone. It makes sense that the group wants to get the domain name as the show grows in popularity.
The domain name changed ownership earlier this year to a Quebec address. Previous parking pages showed ads for Green Day tickets, but the current one is generic and focuses on the “American” aspect of the domain name.
The case should be resolved within a couple months.
ben says
This a simply a domain grab. Hope the owners of the domain fight back.
Fight this guys, this is your domain and don’t let these guys steal it from you.
NimrodGod says
This is what is wrong with the internet today. Yes they are trying to acquire the domain, but the people who own americanidiot.com are just sitting on the URL taking advantage of a trademark name. This is the same case as with people who purchase gogle.com or similar addresses.
Green Day has every right to grab this domain, unless of course the address was not just parked. If there had been an actual website at the location, then Green Day would be in the wrong.
Stick it to the domain squatters Green Day!
Liz says
Yes I agree Nimrod God
jason says
I almost bought this name when it dropped last september. I think it went for mid $xxx at the time. Ive been a green day fan for a while but this is pretty stupid. I hope they (green day) lose this one. ps- their new album is pretty bad
jason says
oh BTW it went for $850 last year
lastchance says
The panelist who decides in favor of Green Day will be known as UDRPidiot.
Marg says
Here we go again..and again… Why didn’t the group or their management team register the name themselves back in 2004 in the first place? 2004 was hardly the stone ages of the internet “back then”.
We’ve seen story after story of the same scenario of the “asleep at the switch” celeb or management team trying to UDRP back their name when it could’ve / should’ve been registered by them in the first place.
Jerry says
w. wants it too
Belmassio says
Sounds like Green Day is dropping the Dookie on the domain owners.
Yeah….Greed Day sucks for trying to steal this domain.
I agree with Jason, their new music is even worse than the old stuff. Total trash.
LS Morgan says
I just went to AmericanIdiot.com, hoping to see some sort of site ala PeopleOfWalMart.com, or a protest site.
It’s basically a parking page- the first things that smacked me in the face were ‘GREEN DAY” this and “GREEN DAY” that.
This is one of those marginal type names where it definitely has a legitimate, developed use by virtue of it’s phraseology alone, but when the nexus is created between the domain name and an eponymous trademark by virtue of a PPC aggregator and the keywords in question, even if unintentional, you might get your face ripped off in a UDRP (who have been generally unfavorable to parked names in the past).
This is why it’s important for owners of parked, generic names to be VERY careful about what PPC ads are shown. If you own Fantasy.com and a bunch of people click through to buy an old Mariah Carey album, you just most definitely used your domain to profit off her mark; if she were to UDRP you and draw the right arbiter, say goodnight.
Stephen Douglas says
Go Green Day!
Go Domainers!
Umm… who is right? The band that made the phrase popular and sold prodservs with it, or the domainer that grabbed it and is using it for… umm… pointing out GW Bush and his Administration? (if he was, I’d be on his side).
Green Day will get the domain.
GreenDayFriend says
The band had 5 years to think about it and now wants it. I say no.
I’m on the domain owner side as he should have a very nice $$$$$ Green day.
Domain name owner should get 5% of the record sales of americanidiot for the domain name. Such an appropriate name in this situation.
Chris Nielsen says
Some people have pretty strong opinions about stories like this, but that does not make what they say the truth or the law.
A squatter is defined as someone using property and breaking the law. A domain is like a plot of land. If you pay for it, you have the legal right to it unless there is some ownership issue (like a trademark) that is more important. Is the song or album name trademarked? If it is that’s the end of the story. I doubt it is since it’s probabaly covered under “copyright” and who trademarks their song titles or album names? Maybe they should and maybe they did. But if not then there’s not much to talk about.
Do you know what the cost would be to trademark all of the song titles in the Beatles collection???
Sorry, but in this case, Greenday should have just bought the domain if they wanted it so bad, or they could get americanidiot.biz or americanidiot.us if they hurry. Someone was smart enough to reg AMERICANIDIOTTICKETS.COM, but I doubt it was Green Day.
Isn’t it about time that people start hiring domain name consultants to help them avoid this kind of problem?
Andrew Allemann says
@ Chris – you don’t have to have a filed trademark to have a trademark.
Tanya says
They went with http://www.americanidiotonbroadway.com/