Supreme Court Won’t Hear Falwell’s Appeal.
May there be many such headlines to come about all filth-spewing homophobic idiots like him.
I wish he’d fall into a well and that would be the end of him. (Jerry, not the other guy).
You know, the fallwell page not only has a disclaimer that says “This website is NOT affiliated with Rev. Dr. Jerry Falwell or his ministry,” it has a clearly marked link to Falwell’s site. If those were always there, it’s amazing this suit got as far as it did.
“Even animals don’t do that!” Um, Rev. Falwell, I can tell you, you are dead wrong.
My inner five-year-old’s going ‘neener, neener, neeeeeener’.
So’s my outer nineteen-year-old, come to think of it.
Per the Fourth Circuit’s opinion, they were. (Warning: pdf.) And the case didn’t really get too far – the trial court decided the issue on cross motions for summary judgment (which is a pre-trial procedure that permits the court to decide issues when the facts are undisputed), then the Fourth Circuit heard Lamparello’s appeal. From there, Falwell sought a writ of certiorari at the Supreme Court. It’s unclear precisely, but it looks like this went from initial filing to denial of cert in about three years. That, my friends, is lightning speed.
It appears that the Fourth Circuit’s decision reversing the trial court is not founded on the notion that Lamparello’s use of Falwell’s name wasn’t actionable trademark infringement because it was for a non-commercial use. (Lamparello’s website was intended to criticize Falwell, and so Lamparello argued that it is both outside the Lanham Act and deserving of the highest level of First Amendment protection.)
Instead, as Marley23 pointed out, in light of the disclaimer (and the fact that the whole site criticizes Falwell), there is no possibility that anyone would confuse Lamparello’s criticism site with Falwell’s real site. Ergo, no claim.
So, let’s sum up where we are, shall we? Falwell has given free publicity to a site that criticizes him (and that, before Falwell made a federal case of it, got about 200 hits a day); Falwell got publicity himself for getting told “no thanks” by the Supremes; and Falwell is out his attorneys fees and will likely face an order to pay Lamparello’s attorneys fees.
Sometimes justice is, indeed, sweet.
My outer thirty-one-year-old is, too.
Oh, how I love to gloat over something like this happening to Jerry Falwell…
Meh. I’m still waiting for the “Jerry Falwell breaks down in church, admits homosexuality, says “I cannot go on living a lie”” headline. Or “Jerry Falwell Lynched” that would work, too.
Falwellian logic: Now then, Larry Flynt published a cartoon about me using my image and that of a well known alcohol claiming I lost my virginity to my mother in an outhouse with a dog, and the Supreme Court ruled against me saying Flynt had every right to do that as parody. But here’s a guy who doesn’t do anything 1/100th as hateful on a web site nobody could mistake for mine… if they upheld Larry Flynt’s rights then they’ve gotta rule against a guy who’s not doing anything 1/1000th as inflammatory, it’s just science!
How exactly does this make sense? I hope that the owner of fallwell.com sues and gets his attorney’s fees and punitive damages for malicious and frivolous litigation (not that Falwell is really overly concerned with paying his liabilities.
It only makes sense insofar as it creates a likely chilling effect for everyone else who wants to criticize that anal opening.
Honestly, if you know the “truth” and the “truth” is immutable, why worry about people criticizing you??? Makes me always think maybe maybe their beliefs aren’t as strong as they’d like them to be…
The owner of jerryfalwell.com is not misrepresenting himself. That was the first thing I checked when I looked at the site. The Supreme Court should not have heard the case.
I just checked the Wittenburg Door’s website. I can’t believe it but they have not done anything on Jerry Falwell. I am going to have to email them about that. Oh, and for those who don’t know what the Door is: It is pretty much the only religious satire magazine in the world. Basically, if you are a Christian, you are up to be made fun of in this magazine. FriarTed, you might want to look at it. I think you would get a kick out of it. www.wittenburgdoor.com/home.html
I’ll be happy about that, too. But meanwhile, we have to take what we can get…
I haven’t seen an actual paper issue of The Door in years- but the occasional Internet glances I take at it are pretty amusing.
May I recommend larknews.com for some darn fine Evangelical self-satire (yes, it can exist!)
Hey, if it can happen to Stom Thurmond . . .
FriarTed, I’ve subscribed to The Door for a few years now. It’s a good mixture of humour and some surprisingly interesting interviews. If you like, send me an e-mail and I’ll send you a few of my old copies.
CJ