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Lady Gaga loses squatting complaint

Object of adoration will stay up

Lady Gaga has lost her fight over the domain name LadyGaga.org after an arbitration panel ruled that a punter was well within her rights to use it for a fan site.

The pop star's cybersquatting complaint was filed with the US National Arbitration Forum under Gaga's real name of Stefani Germanotta. The domain registrant is listed as simply "oranges arecool XD".

Despite managing to prove that she was famous enough to claim common law trademark rights to her name as far back as 2006, the Poker Face star was unable to convince the panel that the owner of LadyGaga.org did not have the right to use it.

The website is currently an unremarkable fan blog dedicated to the singer.

The NAF panel ruled that because the site did not display advertising or sell merchandise, it constituted "legitimate noncommercial or fair use" under the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy that governs cybersquatting cases.

It also noted that the blog contained a number of disclaimers, which pointed out that the site was "unofficial".

"The Complainant [Lady Gaga] cannot have fame without fans, and fans cannot have fan sites without referring to the objects of their adoration," the panel wrote.

It warned that any future attempt to make a profit from the site might enable the singer to re-file her complaint and win. ®

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