From the WIPO Arbitration & Mediation Center Administrative Panel Decision in Polanski v. Uziel (Arbitrators Brian J. Winterfeldt, Warwick A. Rothnie & Marie-Emmanuelle Haas), decided two weeks ago but just posted on Westlaw:
In 1977, the Complainant [film director] was arrested in the United States and charged with unlawful sex with a minor. The Complainant pleaded guilty, but fled before being sentenced. He remains wanted by the United States criminal justice system.
Since that time a number of women have come forward alleging that the Complainant sexually abused them. The Complainant denies these allegations and says he has never been prosecuted, let alone convicted, in relation to any of these allegations.
A film directed by the Complainant, D'après une histoire vraie had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2017. It subsequently featured in three further film festivals in Switzerland, Brazil, and Bulgaria early in October 2017 before its commercial release in Paris, France on October 30, 2017.
The disputed domain name was registered on October 31, 2017. Since at least November 3, 2017, it has resolved to a website. The website is headed 'Silence is the Enemy'. It referred to the (then) recent allegations against Harvey Weinstein and then notes that another 'famously infamous man of the movies is again in the spotlight'. The website then explained that the Complainant appeared on October 30, 2017 at La Cinémathèque Francaise as the guest of honour for the launch of a month long retrospective of his oeuvre.
Initially, the website then stated that two named women had recently come forward to make allegations against him. The text included hyperlinks to press reports of the allegations. This text was shortly after replaced with text linking to the allegations against the Complainant by five or six women.
Then, the website set out some paragraphs including quotes allegedly made by the Complainant. The website then continued: 'We can't bear the thought of another woman's or girl's innocence taken away by him. Age and prison time do not cure pedophilia. Polanski has a long history of rampant sexual abuse.
