Breaking News - 4th Circuit Rules Against Falwell

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (noted for being one of the most conservative circuits in the country), has reversed a decision issued in favor of televangelist Jerry Falwell and instead granted summary judgment in favor of Christopher Lamparello over the domain name fallwell.com. The Court's decision is available here in Adobe Acrobat format. A news article on the decision is available here.

"After even a quick glance at the content of the website at www.fallwell.com, no one seeking Reverend Falwell's guidance would be misled by the domain name - www.fallwell.com - into believing Reverend Falwell authorized the content of that website."

Compare with the 4th Circuit's PETA.org decision. The Court said there was no likelihood of confusion between Lamparello's website and Falwell.

The Court also found no bad faith intent to profit from using the [www.fallwell.com] domain name. "Lamparello clearly employed www.fallwell.com simply to criticize Reverend Fallwell's views."