Keith Urban photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville
April 10, 2007 — Months after Keith Urban sued a painter who shares his name for allegedly misleading people to think his website was that of the singer's, the painter has filed a countersuit. The Tennessean reports that the painter is seeking a permanent injunction prohibiting the musician from attempting to cancel or use his domain name registration [keithurban.com] as long as the painter maintains the registration.
The filing states, "Through this lawsuit, the Musician is using his celebrity to threaten the Painter to give up intellectual property in which he has legitimate interests." The painter's attorney adds that links to concert tickets were added by Google after his client signed with them and they are trying to determine whether they can control what ads are put up.
Members of the singer's camp say they have attempted to settle the matter amicably, as nobody actually wants litigation, but due to the unique nature of this situation — two Keith Urbans — they believe that there should be a stronger commitment to a clear distinction between the two. They also claim a message stating, "This is not Keith Urban the musician," was taken down after a few weeks and replaced with materials relating to the musician. They feel that posting showed that the painter understood the nature of what he was doing on his site. They are hopeful there will be a comfortable resolution.
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