PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — The domain name CoachellaCams.com, which currently resolves to an adult live cam portal, has been ordered transferred to the corporate owner of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which holds annually one of the most critically acclaimed music festivals in the world — Coachella.
Arbitrator David A. Einhorn ruled Friday on the domain name after deciding that CoachellaCams.com is identical or confusingly similar to a “Coachella” trademark registered in 2007 by the concert promoters, that the operator of CoachellaCams.com did not have any legitimate rights or interests in the domain name, and that he registered and used the site as an adult portal in bad faith.
The operator of CoachellaCams.com and respondent to the cybersquatting claim was Michael T. Nishimura of Florida. Nishimura did not defend his right to the domain name.
Held annually in the spring and known simply as “Coachella,” the music festival, held at the 78-acre Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif., is one of the most critically acclaimed concerts in the world. Musical performers like Ice Cube, Guns N’ Roses, Mavis Staples and numerous others performed this spring in front of 99,000 each day for six days.
Golden Voice, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival’s parent company, only operates Coachella.com as an informational website on the festival’s events and activities, as well as its art installations, festival lineup and directions.
