Paul Mulholland sues D&E Media and an individual defendant over domain names using his name, including new registrations after a UDRP transfer order

What was filed

The complaint is Document 1, filed October 15, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. The case is Paul Mulholland v. Donald Emil Vollenweider, D&E Media, LLC, and John Does 1-10, No. 2:26-cv-13427, and it includes a jury demand. It pleads four counts: cybersquatting under 15 U.S.C. § 1125(d); cyberpiracy protection for individuals under 15 U.S.C. § 8131; and defamation and false light under New Jersey common law. Counsel are Brett E. Lewis (pro hac vice pending) and Abraham Moussako of Lewis & Lin, LLC. The complaint runs 26 pages and attaches no exhibits.

What the complaint alleges

Mulholland, of College Park, Maryland, says he has reported and published as PAUL MULHOLLAND since at least 2017 and claims common-law trademark rights in that name for journalism. He says that beginning in 2021 he investigated D&E Media, which the complaint describes as an East Orange, New Jersey adult film studio, and it alleges, on information and belief, that Vollenweider is a director, officer, member, or agent of D&E Media. It alleges defendants registered paulmulholland.com, .net, .org, .biz, and .info in April 2022, and paulm989medium.com, paulmulhollandjournalist.com, and paulmulhollandfacialabuse.com in 2025, and used them to impersonate him and divert readers. It says a National Arbitration Forum UDRP panel ordered those eight names transferred on February 25, 2026, and the transfer took place around March 23, 2026.

It alleges that on or about March 10 to 11, 2026, defendants registered eight replacement names, including paulemulholland.com, .net, .org, .info, and .biz, through a registrar using a privacy-protection service, republished the same content there, and ran articles under a false "Paul Mulholland" byline. The defamation and false light counts rest on statements about him at those sites and at a related website, which the complaint says are false. The prayer asks for transfer of the domain names under 15 U.S.C. §§ 1116, 1125(d)(1)(C), and 8131(2), an injunction, the plaintiff's election of profits and damages under 15 U.S.C. § 1117(a) or statutory damages of up to $100,000 per domain name under 15 U.S.C. § 1117(d), compensatory, presumed, and punitive damages on the state counts, and fees.