I have no idea where to post this. Anyway, I've not really had to deal with ToS' before and now I have to. As I run a forum based on a global company, I'm in need of a decent ToS. I can write one myself but I'm afraid of missing out key points. The site it's for is WWE Forums, naturally we talk about WWE a lot, the whole site is built around it. Need to reiterate that we are just a fan-based forum and have no connection to the brand at all.
Can any of you point me to this? Thanks and appreciated
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I don't think you need any long disclaimer. Something simple like this should suffice:
Quote:WWE Forums is not directly affiliated nor endorsed by WWE, Inc. or it's partners. All trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.
Would that cover content, income, views, opinions etc? If it does all in one then that's perfect and thank you
.
Edit: Probably a stupid question really, I'm just cautious since this isn't my expertise at all.
It would be best to drop them an email about it. Only they know for sure if it's acceptable.
Might just do that, hard to find the right person to contact. Went on there site and contact us is mainly about there website, or contact them for job openings -.-.
WWEForums LLC. ("we" or "us" ) hold no exclusive copright to the contents of, and all material concerning the WWE brand and all affiliates. Copyright over the WWE logo, name ("WWE" or "World Wrestling Entertainment") is held by the controlling party and we assume no control over any materials found on wweforums.net ("our site").
Kind of what we have so far.
Well first off, if you really want something that'll cover you - you speak to a lawyer, not an online community that revolves around MyBB.
And just to be clear, you can't just state you're an LLC when you're actually not. That doesn't help you at all. (I'm assuming it's not actually registered for the fact that I've tried searching for "WWEForums" under state public records and found no matches.)
Was written by someone who runs it with me, not me. I didn't even know what it was until I just googled it. Simply copied and pasted what he said. No need to be rude either, it's a community revolving around MyBB yes, but it's also a community full of experienced webmasters. Most webmasters would have come across this sort of thing, hence why I asked.
Don't feel the need to contact a lawyer yet at all, was just hoping for quick advice.
Generally when you ask for something that'll cover you, you need to consult a lawyer (in other words, someone who knows what they're talking about)
Now,
quick advice on the other hand probably won't fully cover you.
Laws are very tricky and taking the easy way out wouldn't be the definition of being covered.
(2011-12-22, 03:27 AM)Anxiety Wrote: [ -> ]Was written by someone who runs it with me, not me. I didn't even know what it was until I just googled it. Simply copied and pasted what he said. No need to be rude either, it's a community revolving around MyBB yes, but it's also a community full of experienced webmasters. Most webmasters would have come across this sort of thing, hence why I asked.
Don't feel the need to contact a lawyer yet at all, was just hoping for quick advice.
(2011-12-22, 02:37 AM)Nathan Malcolm Wrote: [ -> ]I don't think you need any long disclaimer. Something simple like this should suffice:
Quote:WWE Forums is not directly affiliated nor endorsed by WWE, Inc. or it's partners. All trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.
Don't take that as advice. It's admittance that you're aware they have a copyright and that you're violating it anyways. These types of disclaimers are only good if you have permission and they request you to do so. They do not protect you legally.
For real legal advice and protection you need to seek a lawyer.
WWEforums.net if that's your site then yeah.. not a lot you can do if they come after you and you're running a commercial venture. If you're doing it solely as a fan site with ZERO income (even donations) then it's possible you can legally use the fair-use defense. But if they come after you then you'll fold like a pancake.
The real question is...will they care? Some companies don't. Example is game companies. They often allow and ignore online sites dedicated to their products. I'm unsure about the WWE and how they protect their brand. My guess is that you do some Googling and see what sites exists that are unofficial and what domains they use. If you can find long-term examples then I'd say you have an okay chance. But if you can't find examples it's probably because WWE protects their brand with UDRP and DMCA.
This is from 2007:
http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/searc...e_id=10261
2010:
http://www.udrpsearch.com/wipo/d2010-0860
So they will spend the cash for UDRP. My guess is they'll DMCA a host easily too.
But then you have wwe-club.
http://www.wwe-club.com/phpBB3/index.php
So who knows. It's a gamble and if you want a successful site you don't base it off a trademark imho.
Looks like I did enough research for you....oh wait..maybe not.
Available:
prowrestleforum.com
prowrestlingforum.net
WrestlingForum.org
(2011-12-22, 05:44 AM)labrocca Wrote: [ -> ] (2011-12-22, 02:37 AM)Nathan Malcolm Wrote: [ -> ]I don't think you need any long disclaimer. Something simple like this should suffice:
Quote:WWE Forums is not directly affiliated nor endorsed by WWE, Inc. or it's partners. All trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.
Don't take that as advice. It's admittance that you're aware they have a copyright and that you're violating it anyways. These types of disclaimers are only good if you have permission and they request you to do so. They do not protect you legally.
For real legal advice and protection you need to seek a lawyer.
WWEforums.net if that's your site then yeah.. not a lot you can do if they come after you and you're running a commercial venture. If you're doing it solely as a fan site with ZERO income (even donations) then it's possible you can legally use the fair-use defense. But if they come after you then you'll fold like a pancake.
The real question is...will they care? Some companies don't. Example is game companies. They often allow and ignore online sites dedicated to their products. I'm unsure about the WWE and how they protect their brand. My guess is that you do some Googling and see what sites exists that are unofficial and what domains they use. If you can find long-term examples then I'd say you have an okay chance. But if you can't find examples it's probably because WWE protects their brand with UDRP and DMCA.
This is from 2007:
http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/searc...e_id=10261
2010: http://www.udrpsearch.com/wipo/d2010-0860
So they will spend the cash for UDRP. My guess is they'll DMCA a host easily too.
But then you have wwe-club.
http://www.wwe-club.com/phpBB3/index.php
So who knows. It's a gamble and if you want a successful site you don't base it off a trademark imho.
Looks like I did enough research for you....oh wait..maybe not.
Available:
prowrestleforum.com
prowrestlingforum.net
WrestlingForum.org
Nice post, really appreciate it. Don't want you to think I didn't research though, generally did. Really out of my depth in this area. Anyway, yeah WWE-Club is a site that is reassuring me that I'll be okay. 113k posts, and openly is asking for donations. There's many wrestling forums out there who have the same sort of section names and content being posted, only difference is WWE is not always in their domain name. I'll buy a couple of domains to use for backup, I'll definitely create a plan to use in the terrible circumstance that we do actually get taken down.
The site itself isn't solely based off WWE (though it's in the domain name) it's going to just be a wrestling discussion forum. I THINK we'll be okay, but appreciate the post, will definitely back myself up.