文章基本信息

标题：An Empirical Analysis of Fair Use Decisions Under the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy
本地全文：下载
作者：Simon, David A.
期刊名称：Boston College Law Review
出版年度：2012
卷号：53
期号：1
页码：65
出版社：Boston College Law School
摘要：Since its inception in 1999, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has resolved nearly 22,000 domain-name disputes under the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP)—a mandatory arbitration policy implemented by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The UDRP allows the holder of a legally protectable trademark to initiate proceedings to cancel a similar domain name or have it transferred to the trademark owner. Domain-name holders, though, have a number of defenses, including that they are using their domain names in a noncommercial, fair manner. Although several empirical studies have analyzed various aspects of the UDRP, none have specifically examined this fair use defense. This study does what others have not. It analyzes the fair use defense in decisions before WIPO. Using WIPO’s online decision database, this study makes two important findings. First, respondents from the United States are more likely than those from other countries to succeed on a fair use defense. Second, arbitrators from the United States are more likely than those from other countries to find that a respondent’s use of a domain name was fair. This means that, under the UDRP, respondents from the United States enjoy greater speech protections than those from other countries, and that arbitrators from the United States are more sympathetic to speech interests than arbitrators from other countries. To improve the UDRP, I propose two revisions. First, ICANN should adopt a choice of law provision stating that the law of the respondent’s home country governs fair use disputes. Second, ICANN should implement a panel assignment provision in fair use disputes that requires arbitrators to share the nationalities of the litigants.