Supreme Court loss for Falwell.Christian televangelist tel·e·van·gel·ist n. An evangelist who conducts religious telecasts. [Blend of television and evangelist.] tel the Reverend Jerry Falwell This article is about Jerry Falwell, Sr. For the article about his son, see Jerry Falwell, Jr. Jerry Lamon Falwell, Sr. (August 11 1933 – May 15, 2007)[1] was an American fundamentalist Christian pastor and televangelist. has made no secret of his staunchly antigay views, including on his slick Web site www.falwell.com. That's why openly gay New Yorker Christopher Lamparello decided to launch www.fallwell.com, a site that takes the preacher to task. And now it appears he'll get to keep it. The near-identical domain names prompted a lawsuit by Falwell (left) on trademark infringement Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attaching to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees (provided that such authorization was within the scope of the license). grounds. But the U.S. Supreme Court on April 17 declined to hear the case, upholding a federal appellate court A court having jurisdiction to review decisions of a trial-level or other lower court. An unsuccessful party in a lawsuit must file an appeal with an appellate court in order to have the decision reviewed. ruling that Lamparello was within his rights to create the "gripe site" because it did not seek to make money on Falwell's name. "I consider it a very big victory," the 35-year-old Lamparello told The Advocate. "The stuff that Jerry Falwell preaches is just plain nonsense, and too many people are afraid to say so. But the time has come to confront homophobic religion head-on and say, 'Enough is enough.'" |
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