Viacom International Inc, the global entertainment company which runs the cable music station MTV, has lost its fight to have Taiwanese firm Elitist Technologies transfer the domain name mtv.com.sg to it.
Viacom claims that Elitist had no rights over the name, had used it in bad faith and had profited from it. In the complaint filed with the Singapore Domain Name Dispute Resolution Service, Viacom’s lawyer stated that "the name ‘MTV’ is not a common noun universally used all over society" and as such, Elitist had no rights over the domain name. Furthermore, it noted that the domain name bore no resemblance to Elitist’s name as well as business, since the company sells office equipment. As an example of bad faith, Viacom’s lawyer pointed out that the Taiwanese company had acquired the domain name with the intention of selling it and was prepared to sell it to Viacom for US$200,000 (S$36,281). Currently, Viacom already operates the websites www.mtvasia.com and www.mtv-china.com.
In its defence, Elitist Technologies, which registered the contested domain name on 23 February 2000, argued that the term "MTV" was generic and gave examples of how it was used to describe Chinese music videos in newspaper and magazine articles. The selling price of US$200,000 was also not exorbitant since Viacom had earlier bought the domain name "mtv.com" for US$100,000.
This case is the first heard by the Singapore Domain Name Dispute Resolution Service, which was set up early this year. In its judgement, the dispute resolution panel found the word "MTV" as used in the domain name to be descriptive and generic, and Viacom was unable to prove it had "clear or unequivocal" exclusive rights over it. Mr Daniel Seng, a visiting associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s law faculty and the Singapore Academy of Law’s director of research who heard the case, found that Elitist did not use the name in bad faith. In his decision, he noted that third parties have used the word "MTV" by itself or as an abbreviation for music videos. He also stated that there was evidence to show that Elitist was establishing its own Internet portal to supply Chinese entertainment products, news and information.
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