Susan Scheff, a self-described “parent advocate” who “assists parents of troubled teens research and
identify programs and schools that can assist their troubled teens in
getting back on track to a healthy, productive lifestyle” and the publisher of www.suescheff.com, filed an administrative complaint with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center against "Psyborgue" pursuant to the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) . (The UDRP is a policy that website operators automatically agree to when they register a domain name; the policy enables trademark
owners to initiate an administrative proceeding challenging the
registration of a domain name in "bad faith.")
"Psyborgue" is the name Michael Crawford used to register the domain name "sueschefftruth.com." Mr. Crawford, who represented himself in the WIPO action, stated in a declaration that he registered the domain name primarily to "provide information to the public regarding Sue Scheff, her company PURE, and the quality of services offered under the name free of charge to parents." According to the WIPO administrative panel:
The website associated with the Domain Name posts Mr. Crawford’s blog
comments, media articles, court documents, and postings by readers
concerning [Sue Scheff]. Typical postings question [her]
objectivity, assert that she or her daughter have financial ties to
some of the institutions and programs that [she] recommends
to parents, and allege that some of these programs have been implicated
in charges of child abuse or neglect. A disclaimer at the head of the
website advises, “This site is not endorsed by or affiliated with Sue
Scheff™.
The WIPO panel denied Scheff's complaint, finding that Mr. Crawford was making a legitimate, nomcommercial fair use of the domain name for purposes of criticism. The panel indicated that "[t]o the extent the Complaint may be read as suggesting that the Respondent registered and used the Domain Name in bad faith because his purpose was to defame the Complainant, such a claim is essentially outside the scope of the Policy."
