I am building a website of hundreds of discussion forums. I want to have forums dedicated to individual TV Shows, Radio Shows, Books, and Movies- without any special permission of the owners of those TV shows, Radio Shows, Books and Movies? Is it legal to have forums on my site called:
“American Idol Season 4”
“CSI: New York”
“Survivor: Palau”
“Charlie Rose”
and
“Howard Stern Show”
“Rush Limbaugh”
“Bill O’Reilley”
and of course forums that contain the title of books like:
“The Purpose Driven Life”
etc…
Does it depend upon the specific show? I know sometimes you are not legally allowed to even use a word without permission. How do I know what I can and cannot use?
You’re fine. You can talk about stuff all you want, and you can make clear that you’re talking about what you’re talking about. No one here ever gives Lucasfilm notice when they start a Star Wars thread. Now, if you were selling stuff about a show and using the show’s name, you could be in trademark trouble, but just talking about it, that’s fine, espeically if you make clear you’re not the owner of the shows themselves, just the discussion forum.
In America, you can be sued for anything, real or imagined. The issue is can the lawsuit be successful. And a large part of that depends on how deep your pockets are.
The publisher of “… For Dummies” books has been a real PITA in going after web sites that use that term, even in the context of referring to their books. Since they have a lot of money and most of the web sites don’t, deleting the reference is the smart option.
So, if you are richer than anyone who might sue you, no problem.
But, on a more ethical legal level: Note that if you have a forum devoted to why “Whizz Bang Cola causes cancer” (and it doesn’t), then no amount of money will save you from the Whizz Bang Cola lawyers. So avoid defaming a product, etc.
I have read a lot of well-established sites discussing shows.
They all feature:
a disclaimer saying they are not official sites (and usually give the link)
careful regard for any trademarked or copyrighted phrase or title
extensive moderation to catch libellous remarks on discussion forums
You may like to contact each show, both to cover yourself and to receive any goodies they give out (logos, official recognition, screenshots, screensavers etc).
Generally, it isn’t a copyright issue to create a discussion board about a show; only if you used copyrighted images will there be a problem (and most shows would just let it slide – it’s good PR).
Libel is not often an issue. Remember, libel is a statement contrary to fact. If you say, “This show sucks,” you’re stating an opinion, so it’s not libel. If you say, “Actor x is a child molester,” then libel can be charged.