Oprah’s Next Chapter With No Domain Name

While Oprah and her people were excitedly (I am sure) announcing the news that Oprah will debut a new evening talk show called “Orpah’s Next Chapter,” someone else was excitedly racing to his computer to see if Oprah or her Harpo Productions had registered the matching domain name, OprahsNextChapter.com.

I can just imagine the feeling of exuberance and jolt of energy that must have ripped through the registrant’s body as he quickly typed the domain name into his Dynadot account, racing other would be cybersquatters from claiming this seemingly valuable piece of Internet real estate that was available for the taking. In my humble, non-legal opinion, just because Oprah didn’t register the domain name doesn’t mean the domain name is fair game – especially when it’s monetized with pay per click links.

In the Wall Street Journal article I read, there was also news that Oprah was starting her own television network (maybe not new news, but I don’t really know), aptly named “Oprah Winfrey Network.” Unfortunately for would be cybersquatters, it looks like Oprah’s crew won the registration race on OprahWinfreyNetwork.com, as that domain name is owned by Web Infringement,  LLC an intellectual property protection firm. The do not own OWN.com, a generic domain name purchased   many years before this new network was consummated.

It seems unlikely that Oprah wanted the domain name for her television show, as she would have acquired it for the registration fee prior to the announcement. However, who knows what will happen with the domain name now that someone else has bought it and is monetizing it with PPC links.