All Stories FeedSeven forces Rafters fansite to shut
The Seven Network has muscled in on a website packedtotherafters.com.au run by an 18 year old fan, after it deemed his site would cause confusion with the show’s official website.
Seven’s own website is at the clunky address http://au.tv.yahoo.com/b/packed-to-the-rafters/
But now the network wants the webmaster, Michael, who started the site based on his love of the new Seven drama, to close down the site and hand over the domain.
Michael says he was shocked when he read the email from Seven lawyers.
“I couldn’t believe they required me to hand over the domain which means shutting down the entire site,” he told TV Tonight. “I had a feeling that one day they might require me to make it more obvious that it wasn’t the official website. I would get emails from other fans saying how much they loved the show and asked questions, I would always make sure I stated that we weren’t the official website and pointed them in the right direction.”
The site now tells readers: ‘Due to matters out of our hands packedtotherafters.com.au has been shut down & taken offline. We would like to thank everyone who helped get the site up and running & appreciate all those who visited the site and left comments. I hope you enjoy the final episode of the series on Tuesday night. I can’t wait for series two!’
Fans would always compliment him for updating the site, which added content more regularly than Seven’s.
But a disappointed Michael is complying with the request, saying he can’t afford to take Seven on legally. He says Seven has agreed to cover the cost of the initial registration fee but he is hoping the network may reconsider its demands.
Given the revenue Seven has generated from the number #1 series of 2008, it would certainly be nice if they could find it within their pockets to dig a little deeper, especially for a fan who was smart enough to register it.
“I’m left extremely disappointed that after all the time and effort I put into it the blog has gone to waste and all because I wanted to keep other fans informed about news, rumours & information about the show I fell in love with,” Michael said.
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Actually you bet wrong….
Nimbus,
*The word unofficial does not have to be used in the domain.
*Streaming full episodes is just common sense.
*You do not need permission to make a site, there is billions in the world and i highly doubt any of them got permission. I bet David didn’t for TV Tonight.
*Do a little research, yes.
*They can be asked to remove content, they cannot force them to hand over a domain because they don’t want the site out there.
Everyone can learn a lesson from this:-
*Always use ‘unofficlal’ in the doman name and site name.
*Streaming full episodes is a definite no no!
*How about acutally asking for permission.
*Do your homework before you publish the site.
*Fan sites use copyrighted material.. the text, dialogue, quotes, printed matter, scanned material, photos, captures taken off the DVD or television are all copyrighted and any fansite can be asked to remove them at any time.
No offense but a .info domain? Why not just put it on Geocities.
I could not agree with you more Russell. Seven “official” website as an absolute joke. There is nothing there. And it is not just Packed to the Rafters. All of seven shows have very little information on their official websites. Time to get your act together Seven. Stop this stupid alliance with Yahoo, move back to seven.com.au and God’s sake start adding some bloody content.
If Michael was willing to start a new site, i would be more than happy to host it from him. A .info domain simply. Seven would have to have a really good reason to take it.
Oh my god…
The fact is, Seven’s legal department have every legal right to do what they have done. The age of the website owner is irrelevant. The employees of Seven’s legal department are doing their jobs, not going around looking for 18 year old website owners to pick on.
Michael can just shift his site to a new domain name. If he wanted packedtotherafters.net or .info or whatever, all it takes is fifteen bucks to register the domain for a year, and one or two days for the new domain to be updated across the internet.
I agree, kind of a bummer but not the huge deal some here are making it out to be. And no, I don’t work for Seven.
“Packed To The Rafters” is not a registered trademark, therefore Michael has every right to use the name. Also in Australia a company/name is no longer required to obtain a .com.au domain.
Absolutely pathetic of a major business threatening a young person with legal action to get their way.
God, some people here are really annoying. Obviously Seven can take away the domain. They didn’t take away the site itself, merely the domain name. This guy can easier start again elsewhere. He should have realised that using a copy-righted name on Australia’s most watched TV show would get a reaction. A lot of other shows also have the shows name with a .com.au at the end, so why would Packed be any different? Not forgetting its a new show, so just because Seven’s website’s link doesn’t currently have much content doesn’t mean its not going to change.
Maybe people should be having a go at the other guy for being an idiot. Maybe he should have thought about the domain name, thought about what could happen if you used the title of an already running show and thought about what would happen if the name is already owned by Seven. Seven didn’t do anything wrong, it was the creator in the first place.
And I dont think he’d if he tried to take them on legally. Not only would Seven have some rather grand lawers, but Seven would be the one with the registered ABN, a copyrighted product and the like.
It’s disappointing to see Seven hound a dedicated fan like this. Were the people at Seven resentful that Michael was doing a better job on his fansite than they were on their own shoddy “official” website? Instead of having the courtesy to negotiate an agreement, Seven decided to take advantage of Michael because they knew that he, as an 18-year-old, wouldn’t have any paths for recourse in terms of legal issues. It is nothing short of disgraceful.
In Australia you no longer have to own the name/company to have .com.au so I dont see the problem there.
Wait. Am I missing something?
Seven’s “official” website at http://au.tv.yahoo.com/b/packed-to-the-rafters/ is not a website – it’s a logo!
There is nothing there! 19 still pictures and a series blurb and that is it?
This is the #1 show on TV – where is it’s web presence?
No ep guide. No music details. No video. No online eps. No cast info. No games. No downloads. Nothing! It’s laughable!
Here you have a show that Australian’s have shown a huge appetite for and Seven develops no online component at all?
They could be making money and creating a community here!
Ryan that is correct.
Natasha, they made him transfer it to them or legal action would be take.
Nadine, that means that Michael can simply register a .info domain for the site. .Info is for information which it can be said to be based on information about the show.
And anyway ch 7 can’t take away the domain name if its not already taken?
Ch 7 think they own Australia and Australian tv. They are pathetic.
Thanks for the support everyone!
Curious to know if Zambora is the same guy who calls up SEN All night sport? Love your work mate haha
Ryan,
There’s no breaches in .net and .net.au it only applies to .com or .com.au since they are commercial therefore go by whoever owns the copyright.
If people think it’s just to do with Australia, they’re wrong it applies to every country that has copyright laws in place.
Michael,
7 should hire you to run the official website for a good $$. Problem solved.
7 are bastards. nuff said
Go Michael! Give the cowboys a kicking!
Our rights to free speech in this country are ever more being trampled down by corporate bullies and their political allies who want totalitarian control over how and where we may express our opinions or fandom online.
It seems to be commonplace now for heavy-handed lawyers to be called in just because some ‘ordinary Joe’ has the audacity to create or do something that they claim a monopoly over. If the genuine product was easily accessible and of good enough quality they should have nothing to fear from fandom.
When eventually Australia’s net becomes a hollowed out clean-feed of only safe and authorised blandness, we’ll know we should have defended its freedoms.
It’s a huge shame Seven did this as I would of loved to have checked out Michael’s site. Hopefully he can get it up and running again soon!!
Technically speaking anyone can make up a fake ABN and register a domain name, you don’t strictly need an ABN to register a .com.au – but if you are asked to give it back to the owners of the .com.au name, then you have no choice but to comply.
Sorry to double post, but i also just noticed that packedtotherafters.net is registered. You see with your own eyes
This is pretty sad on Sevens behalf. What is the exact reason that Seven wants this taken offline?
I would not give them domain, they could sue me all they want but they would have to have a really good reason.
Isaac, in regards to your post, you need a ABN before you can purchase a .Au domain, how Michael got it, i don’t know how.
Andrew, I definitely don’t work for Seven, but I am working in the area of copyright and IP, so know a bit about the subject.
This is so unnecessary. Someone makes a quality fan site (for free!) that’s actually promoting 7’s product and they call their lawyers. The official site is next to useless and has very little info on it. Ditto for most tv shows hosted on the Yahoo7 site (they look cheap and dodgy… is that 7’s fault or Yahoo’s?). Instead of forcing the site to shut down, they should have just worked with the guy to keep it going. Commercial networks in Australia don’t seem to have a clue about how to treat their viewers or how to take advantage of stuff like this… it’s free promotion you nitwits.
Wow I never thought this would happen. Why are Channel Seven doing this to a 18 year old guy who just wants to promote the show he loves to watch? I don’t understand why they are doing this as Home and Away has four fan sites – “Back to the Bay”, “Summer Bay Journal”, Home and Away Central” and “Surfin’ Summer Bay” which all don’t seem to have a problem with copyright issues etc.
Hopefully I won’t have this problem with my site “Jazer’s Aussie Craze” which has a lot of Australian television content on it. But sadly you never know what these big television companies will do to the little guy.
Hey Michael don’t let these bullies let you down, when you get your fan site back up I will make sure to put a link on my site for people to check out your site!
Don’t Give Up mate!!!
my website is a .com.au site and I don’t have an ABN nor am I a business and it’s nobodys business…if they want to sue…sue! If you dont register and claim a website its open for anyone to take!
The guy should fight….7 had no right!
Naughty Seven.
Maybe instead of acting like big bully, you could of asked young enterprising kid if he could also promote the official site at same time or come to a commonsense arrangement.
Hold that thought – networks do not understand meaning of commonsense.
I’m still surprised at how Michael managed to get a .com.au URL to start with.
@Mike Beckham – I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, the Roving Enterprises crew know how to treat their fans.
I was highly impressed at the effort they put in to ensure we enjoyed our night.
Who else reckons Barry works for Channel 7? haha
Yeah say pay up or give me a part on the show!
Trust Ch7 to Bully around a kid.. Still Bitter from that PayTV court case they are throwing thier weight around..
I understand the copyright issues.. but I hope that seven will be kind enough to not only compensate the poor guy for it. not just the registration fee but also let the fan have a tour of them filming!
it would be the kind thing to do.. but it is channel seven.. so it probably won’t happen will it..
well the law is the law, but surely they can come up with a negotiation with a similar domain, and splash “unnofficial” all over it.
i doubt ACA will do it too much reverse cross promotion for them.
All TV shows should be purchasing the .com / .com.au address when they show is in development, before the public knows about it. Michael got in first due to Seven’s poor thinking, he should have every right to have it.
As other people have said, fan based sites are often way better than the official site such as PerfectBlend.net, a website for Neighbours which has so more background info, news and spoilers than the official neighbours.com
Contact A Current Affair, they’d eat this up. The person who runs RoveOnline got invited backstage at the show – so not all companies are as bad as Seven.
Michael,
packedtotherafters.com is For Sale. Maybe Re-open there?+
Well, he can open up a new site or tranfer his files or something. The domain name is the name of there show…
I think its great that he made a fan site, but its not his show, its Sevens… and to have a .com.au address you need to have a registered business.
turns out big brother really is watching
The networks should work together with these sort of people opening fan sites. With the addition of simple disclaimers like “not an official ch7 site” or “not officially linked” and the like, they avoid any conflict of interest.
So long as registered trade marks are not used like to 7 logo, etc, who are they hurting by having fan sites? If anything, they are promoting the show for free.
In Australia you need to have an ABN to register a .com.au, which generally means you should be trading under that business name to acquire it. So I don’t know how this guy even got that domain name to begin with.
Seven still should have offered a substantial pay-out to the guy. Domains are like property. It’d be like Seven making someone hand over the keys to their house, because it might confuse people with another house with the same number and street name, but in another state.
Seven are becoming complete pr**s. First joining in on suing iiNet for god knows what reason (no other networks felt the need to), and now this. So freakin’ dodgy.
I forgot to add before though as soon as you see the “All Rights Reserved” aspect it basically knocks you out of obtaining the .com.au domain for the country that owns the rights.
I’m actually representing a company at the moment who just went through the same thing and the person who actually owns the Copyright has the right to do ask for the removal of the item even if they do not own the domain at the time.
Boy what a bunch of bullies seven are like others have previously mentioned Michael should go to ACA they would love a story like this go for it Michael I wish you every success mate
If I was Seven, I’d be more concerned with the fact that Michael had copies of the episodes streaming on his site than the content itself. That would have been the reason for them to shut it down more than anything else.
It was an awesome site, so for Michael’s sake I hope he manages to get it back up and running via a different domain, etc.
I haven’t seen one minute of the show, nor am interested in it. But what 7 have done, is lame.
Well, they are a pack of bullies … all he should need is a clear statement at the site that it is “Not Official” and give a link to the correct official …. and very hard to find … site …
They obviously “could not buy this sort of adversiting or support” and should take advantage of the power of fan obcession instead of being arrogant and narrow minded.
Jack!
No need to register a company name. Get a free ABN and/or register the domain under the requirement of a ’similar’ product/service offering.
Hi Michael – if you where to register the company name ‘Packed To The Rafters’ for $79.00, you would legally own the rights to the name and therefore you would own the rights to the domain name.
I think your right craig I reckon ACA may be onto this!
Seems completely OTT..the site would have given the show great online exposure. Idiots!
Hey guys,
Michael from packedtotherafters.com.au here.
Thanks for the comments and support, had a few emails offering support on the matter, will make sure i get back to them all at some stage today.
I did a trademark search and could not find anything top do with packed to the rafters. I don’t know much about the cans and cants of trademarks but i would imagine registering the term ‘packed to the rafters’ would be extremely difficult as it is a commonly used term and likely to be used by others in every day use.
thanks
As sad as this is, I was put through the same thing with a website I registered a couple of years ago. Sadly, Michael must comply with Channel 7 – it’s not bullying from the Seven legal department, it’s claim of their copyright. If Michael had registered packedtotherafters.com he would be ok, as anyone can own a .com domain name. But a .com.au domain name must be registered by the company who owns the trademark or has registered the business name.
It would be a different scenario if Michael had registered the company name Packed To The Rafters and sold storage equipment. Then he would be entitled to the .com.au domain name. Register the .com Michael…if it’s still available.
or the TV shows that are on the other channels
I think Michael should use the domain for something unrelated as to show Seven have no right to it – maybe a page advertising roof products?
Such a shame that Seven has done this which would actually add to the publicity for the show.
Maybe Michael should reopen under a different name but that still mentions the show. Like how there’s a PerfectBlend website for Neighbours.
The same thing happened with the site I run – sea-patrol.com, however after a lengthy discussion and agreement with executive producers Hal and Di McElroy, an agreement was reached.
I’ll contact Michael and hopefully assist him in contacting some of the people connected with the program to perhaps find a middle ground. Fan sites are normally more enjoyable than official site’s, as they go deeper into things and allow fans to be more expressive than what is normally allowed on an official site – major forum discussion, fan fiction, fan art etc, to name just a few.
That’s pretty sad really. The least seven could have done is pay him out a reasonable sum considering he was smart enough to hook up the domain name.
Why didn’t 7 register the address as soon as the shows title was confirmed?
It would have only cost them $30-$40 and two minutes in time.
People typing in packedtotherafters.com.au could have then been redirected to the official site.
This is not going to win ch7 too many fans, it’s another case of a big company bullying the little guy into giving them something they didn’t even know they wanted before someone else was smart enough to do it. I wish they could fight them.
Wonder if TT will do a story on it, I can smell ACA sniffing around already
if Seven were smart they’d have registered the domain name first
Wow.. The idiots should have thought about buying the domain name when they were filming the show.. If anything they should have to pay for it as any company would if someone else snatched up their domain name.
It’s just scare mongering and bullying.. I would keep the domain name and keep re-registering it just to piss them off, I would also plaster channel 9 and 10 logos over it and advertise the other shows on at that time.. but that’s just me lol
More arrogant bullying from the Seven legal department. Typical.
Seven’s who Yahoo co-branding is a joke, and the pathetic excuses for web sites they come up with are impenetrably hard to use and devoid of updates and useful information (ever tried to find proper info on City Homicide in that mire? And whatever happened to the weekly writers’ blog anyway?)
They should have been grateful for the free publicity. And last time I checked, “packed to the rafters” is a commonly used term, not a trademark.
Perhaps Michael should set the site back up with a US host and domain. Let’s see Seven’s big men try and shut him down then.