I'm creating a website on German cars. No issues with it, since it's basically a PHP site, and let's say for the sake of argument, there are no server issues.
However, I plan to call it "autohaus" (well, for the sake of this scenario anyway, it's not its actual name)
The site is not for commercial gain; it's a fansite.
Legally, can I use a name for a website if it's a commonly-used one - "autohaus" appears to be this.
There are other sites called "Autohaus" but could someone use a similar name for non-commercial, information/educational use?
Basically, what's the copyright law for such a situation?
Currently my site is only on localhost for now, but what if I did want to release it to the web?
Obviously the legal issues have to be taken into account before the site goes live, but there's no Data Protection Act. etc. since it's not selling anything, and no-one's buying anything, and the pictures in it are being used educationally (but that's for another question entirely)]
[NOTE: This question is on trademark/names etc. not domains]
