What’s in a Name? A Legal Tangle for a Little Girl

When David Sams registered the veronica.org domain name for his baby daughter, Veronica, he thought it would help him teach her about the importance of the Internet. Instead, father and daughter are getting a lesson in the law.

This week, Sams must decide whether to turn his daughter’s domain name over to Archie Comic Publications, publishers of the comic strip featuring the Riverdale High School gang of Archie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica. The company, which owns a trademark for the name Veronica, wants the West Los Angeles toddler’s site shut down and has threatened legal action if Sams doesn’t comply.

But Sams, who has spent about $1,500 and many days creating and updating the year-old Web site, is preparing for a fight.

“I feel like David versus Goliath here,” said the Beverly Hills television producer. “Are they calling the producers of ‘Veronica’s Closet’ on NBC and threatening them? It’s like, ‘Let’s go after some little family that can’t defend itself.’ ”

On Veronica’s Web site (https://www.veronica.org), the 22-month-old girl--pictured in a bathtub and in a high chair--appears perplexed by the situation.

“How can a company own my name?” the site asks. “Veronica, in Archie comics, is a brunette. I’m a blonde. How could the world confuse me with her? She’s much older than I am. I’m still a baby!”

Archie Comic Publications of Mamaroneck, N.Y., sent Sams a cease-and-desist letter in October. Neither company officials nor the firm’s outside lawyers returned calls seeking comment.

The dispute is reminiscent of a case last year involving a Pennsylvania boy nicknamed Pokey who features his Australian Shepherd puppy and his favorite video games on his Web site, https://www.pokey.org. Prema Toy, the San Rafael firm that owns the trademarks for the Gumby and Pokey characters, sought control of the site, but the conflict was resolved when Pokey creator Art Clokey instructed his lawyers to back off.

Such disputes are likely to become much more common as the Internet becomes increasingly mainstream and more people register Web sites in their own names.

“You have a collision between a large and growing commercial use of the Internet and a large and growing community and communication use of the Internet,” said David Johnson, co-director of the Cyberspace Law Institute in Washington. “Certainly, we have to allow personal and commercial uses of the Net to coexist.”

Cyberlaw experts said Sams could probably keep Veronica’s Web site if he challenged Archie Comic Publications in court. Archie’s trademark is designated for comic magazines, although it can apply more broadly to prevent other uses of the name that might be confused with uses of the comic book character.

Since Veronica Sams’ site is clearly a noncommercial “vanity site” and isn’t about the comic strip, Archie’s trademark should not prevent the toddler from keeping her Web site, said Jim Jenal, who teaches a course on Internet law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.

But Network Solutions, the Herndon, Va., company that registers domain names, has its own procedure for resolving disputes about trademarked names. Domain names are given out on a first-come-first-served basis. But if someone else who holds a trademark makes a claim, Network Solutions can put a domain name on “hold” until the dispute is resolved.

As a matter of policy, Network Solutions generally favors trademark holders even if the domain name owner isn’t using it in a way that violates the trademark, Johnson said. But either side can go to court if they don’t want to leave the decision to Network Solutions.

Sams said he is still evaluating his options for fighting Archie Comic Publications, and he vows not to “surrender.” He has until Thursday to let Network Solutions know what course he plans to take.

As a backup, Sams has registered the veronica.cc domain name with the Cocos Islands, an Australian territory off the coast of Sri Lanka. “It’s going to be very difficult for anybody to force them to take down our Web site,” he said.

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Karen Kaplan can be reached via e-mail at karen.kaplan@latimes.com.