For a variety of reasons web addresses (also known as a domain names or URLs) aren't protected by Copyright. Even though Copyright doesn't protect domain names they are protected by Trademark law. There are a couple of ways you can check if a domain name is Trademarked:
1. Online TM Searches - USPTO trademark database and CIPO Trademark database; and
2. Companies that search for you like Witmart and other Intellectual property service companies.
Copyright protection does not extend to titles, names, slogans or short phrases, the Copyright Office has made that much very clear. . The five things that cannot be copyrighted are Titles and Names, Ideas, works by most Governments, works without Authorship/Facts and Fashion.
Copyright applies to all original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works provided the conditions set out in the Copyright Act have been met. Each of these general categories covers a wide range of creations, including:
- Literary works such as books, pamphlets, computer programs and other works consisting of text
- Dramatic works such as motion picture films, plays, screenplays and scripts
- Musical works such as compositions with or without words
- Artistic works such as paintings, drawings, maps, photographs, sculptures and plans
Copyright also applies to other subject-matter consisting of:
- Performers' performances, meaning any of the following:
- A performance of an artistic, dramatic or musical work, whether or not the work was previously recorded and whether or not the work's term of copyright protection has expired
- A recitation or reading of a literary work, whether or not the work's term of copyright protection has expired
- An improvisation of a dramatic, musical or literary work, whether or not the improvised work is based on a pre-existing work
- Sound recordings, meaning recordings consisting of sounds, whether or not a performance of a work, but excluding any soundtrack of a cinematographic work where it accompanies the cinematographic work
- communication signals, meaning radio waves transmitted through space without any artificial guide, for reception by the public
How do you know if a domain name is Trademarked or Copyrighted?