Summit Entertainment Plans to Sue Twilight.com
Summit Entertainment, the folks behind the Twilight films, have filed a lawsuit against Twilight.com. According to Summit, they filed the lawsuit against the site (which was registered all the way back in 1994 long before the books and movies) because they believe that it is hurting their image and confusing their customers… because apparently they think Twilight fans are morons.
After checking out Twilight.com myself I have to say that Summit are being total idiots. The site is very obviously not some big, fancy official looking Twilight page. The site contains a few links to the Twilight books and movies on Amazon and that’s about it. Clearly Summit is pissed about the fact that they don’t own the domain name. They want it in their greedy hands because that’s a prime domain name to have, one that’s worth a whole lot of money.
Summit said in their complaint, “…that the false implication of Summit's endorsement of Twilight.com constitutes unfair competition, is likely to confuse consumers, will injure the studio's reputation, and will result in irreparable damage. The studio is suing for copyright and trademark infringement and demanding gains, profits and advantages from the defendant.”
As I mentioned above, the site was created in 1994. The first Twilight book came out in 2005. Clearly the owner wasn’t trying to steal anything or hurt anyone’s image when he bought the domain name, seeing how Twilight wasn’t even released yet. According to the reports, Summit has been after the owner since 2009. He has responded with a cease-and-desist letter denying Summit's claims.
I honestly can’t see a court taking Summit Entertainment seriously here. I understand why they want that Twilight domain name, I really do, but the fact of the matter is that it’s not theirs. They didn’t buy it first and therefore they can’t have it, not matter how much they piss and moan. They can go ahead and throw a tantrum in court; it’s a simple case of ownership. The owner of Twilight.com beat them to it and he is doing nothing wrong. Personally, if I were him I’d sell the name, he could make SO much money on it.
What do you guys think? Do you think Summit will go to court and win? Check out Twilight.com and tell me if you think it's hurting Summit in any way.
- Moonlight
If I were a judge, I would see Summit as trying to bully the owner of this website into selling. The owner of the website might have a good case for a lawsuit against Summit for harassment and defamation. If the Twilight website name was so important to Summit, they could have retitled their movie to a name where they could also secure a website domain name. Poor planning on Summit’s part does not justify their claims or give them the right to bully the existing website owner.
Summit should move on and be happy with the successes they’ve had. Their movies are great.
i dont get the big deal. sure they have the movie rights but that doesnt mean they need a website. not to mention all thats on that site are links to twilight things, which is legal. i say the owner of Twilight.com should counter sue bc of this, after all if the website was up before the books/ movies came out Summit has no right to it. i think theyre just acting like @$$’s.
A court of law would realize that Summit is acting like a five year old. The domain owner could be making a sh*tload of money if they were looking to sell, or work up Summit to where they essentially, breakdown.