Pop stars have rights too, a United Nations agency ruled yesterday as the singer Robbie Williams succeeded in shutting down a website bearing his name, which redirected people to a site for the band Oasis.

It was the worst place for his fans to be redirected as he and the grandees of Britpop have had a long running feud.

Williams complained to the UN World Intellectual Property Organisation about www.robbiewilliams.info. It was run by Howard Taylor, of Southampton, who said he intended to set up an unofficial fan club from the site.

The UN Wipo, which mediates disputes about domain names, said the site had been set up in bad faith and ordered that it be handed over to Williams. Mr Taylor, an IT consultant, claimed he thought the feud between Williams and Noel and Liam Gallagher was a publicity stunt and that "anyone who knows about it would see the humour".

The spat began when Noel Gallagher branded him "a fat dancer from Take That". The next round saw Williams sending the band a funeral wreath after their album Standing On The Shoulder of Giants was panned by critics.

Ordering Mr Taylor to hand over the domain the Wipo arbitrator ruled: "This does not appear to be the action of a fan, but rather the actions of someone who wished to provoke the complainant.

"[He] refers to the humour involved in such an act. However, I doubt that the complainant would have seen any joke."