Previous Politech message: http://www.politechbot.com/p-04847.html --- Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 15:50:12 -0400 From: "Leo G. Simonetta" <simonettaat_private> Subject: For Politech: Falwell Gets Rights to Web Addresses To: declanat_private http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=494&e=17&u=/ap/falwell_web_site "Falwell said Wednesday that an Illinois entrepreneur decided to turn over jerryfalwell.com and jerryfallwell.com rather than face further legal action." -- Leo G. Simonetta Art & Science Group, LLC 6115 Falls Road Suite 101 Baltimore, MD 21209 --- Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2003 23:57:24 -0500 From: Mike Harris Subject: Re: Jerry Falwell somehow takes over jerryfalwell.com parody site To: declanat_private X-Priority: 3 Declan, Looks like Gary Cohn just gave them to Falwell after making his point: http://forums.delphiforums.com/jerryfalwell/messages?msg=930.1 http://forums.delphiforums.com/jerryfalwell/messages?msg=928.10 * * * * * * * From: CyberActivist (GARYCOHN) 1:09 pm To: ALL (1 of 3) 930.1 Hello Falwell Parody visitors, Due to the fact that I won the International W.I.P.O. decision, and won in Virginia, I felt that the law is clearly on my side. Soooo I proved my point, and exposed the hate preacher Falwell for what he is. A profiteer of the gullible. I now will move on to do God's work in educating the brainwashed masses to stop worshipping religion, and start worshipping God again. My website InterviewWithGod.org is my message to those who are looking for the real loving God of us all, and not the fairy tale baby killer God of the Bible. Thanks for all of your feedback! This forum will continue to provide God's shining light illuminating the divisive and hatefull TV Preachers that suck money from the weak minded sheep. Sincerely, Gary Cohn, Founder JustGod.com P.S. Please bookmark InternetParodies.org because I decided to give Jerry my two domain names, and they will no longer point here. --- From: "William S. Purdy" <wpurdyat_private> To: "Declan McCullagh" <declanat_private> Cc: "Paul Levy" <PLEVYat_private> Subject: Fw: A FALWELL BY ANY OTHER NAME Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 23:43:58 -0500 Dear Declan, I am a subscriber to Jerry Falwell's newsletter, and I thought you and/or your readers may want to read in Mr. Falwell's own words what happened in that name-dispute litigation. I of course believe that you CAN use another's trademarked names as long as you use those names to criticize or talk ABOUT those names (or their owners) and if I understand him correctly I think Mr. Levy agrees. At any rate, I suspect you and/or your readers will find this interesting. Yours truly, Bill Purdy ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jerry Falwell" <webmasterat_private> To: <fcat_private> Sent: Friday, June 20, 2003 7:47 PM Subject: A FALWELL BY ANY OTHER NAME > FALWELL CONFIDENTIAL > > DATE: June 20, 2003 > FROM: Jerry Falwell > > > > A FALWELL BY ANY OTHER NAME > > Each week, thousands of people visit my Website, http://www.falwell.com . > However, up until late last week, people wishing to visit my site who might > have typed http://www.jerryfalwell.com or http://www.jerryfallwell.com > (accidentally misspelling my name) into their Web browser, would have > arrived at a Web site run by a man who has, for years, utilized my own name > to host an anti-Falwell site. > > The issue here was not his criticism of me, or my ministry. I face > criticism every day from a variety of people and organizations that have the > immutable right to criticize me since I am a public figure. > > The issue in this case was, rather, that this man was utilizing my own name > to launch attacks on me. This was often confusing to friends of my > ministries and/or people seeking information on me, or my many ministries, > who unintentionally connected to this man's site. > > Thankfully, Jerry Falwell Ministries and I have now officially obtained the > right to use my namesake Web sites, http://www.jerryfalwell.com and > http://www.jerryfallwell.com. > > Lawyers for Gary Cohn, the Illinois man running the anti-Falwell site on the > domains www.jerryfalwell.com and http://www.jerryfallwell.com , informed us > last week that they would turn over rights to the domains, rather than > engage in the litigation we had planned in the federal court in the Northern > District of Illinois (Chicago). > > We have been trying to gain the legal rights to the sites since October 2001 > when Mr. Cohn was told to cease and desist from his trademark infringement > by our intellectual property attorney, John Midlen of Chevy Chase, Md. > > After Mr. Cohn refused, in February 2002, our ministries were forced to file > a complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva, > Switzerland. After WIPO ruled against us in May 2002, we then filed a > complaint with the U.S. District Court in Lynchburg, Va., in June 2002, > claiming that the sites were an illegal use of my name and trademark and > were libelous, unfair competition and "cybersquatting." > > Unfortunately, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., changed > the way it interpreted the laws upon which our claim was based while our > case was pending and Judge Norman K. Moon dismissed our suit in March, > saying the court had no jurisdiction over a Web site run out of Illinois > that wasn't aimed at a Virginia audience. > > Despite this discouraging setback, I believed this man was unlawfully > utilizing my name. > > Soon after Judge Moon dismissed the suit, our lawyers discovered that my > name, Jerry Falwell, had in fact been trademarked in connection with one of > our ministry programs, "Listen America with Jerry Falwell." > > One of our ministries, Liberty Alliance, had recently registered my name > with the trademark office but did not immediately make that fact known to > our lawyers. My son, Jerry Falwell Jr., who serves as general counsel for > Thomas Road Baptist Church, said that it's not clear whether the fact that > my name had been trademarked was the deciding factor in convincing Mr. Cohn > to surrender the domain name, but it certainly did not hurt. > > We are glad that this legal battle has ended victoriously. It is > unfortunate that we had to spend two years of valuable time claiming what > already belonged to us - my own name. > > Jerry Falwell Jr. and Mr. Midlen have also been negotiating, on behalf of > Liberty University, with two institutions that have been using Liberty > University's name. A school formerly known as Liberty University of > California, located in Sacramento, Calif., changed its name to Lexford > University of California last month after our Liberty University advised it > of its trademark rights. Liberty is still negotiating with a school called > American Liberty University, in Montgomery, Ala., which uses the Internet > domain names www.libertyuniversity.edu and www.libertyuniversity.com. > (Liberty utilizes the site http://www.liberty.edu .) > > Our attorneys anticipate the Alabama school will relinquish that domain name > to Liberty University in Lynchburg and add a disclaimer to its site and > print materials without forcing us to litigate. > > We are very pleased that all of our related ministries here in Lynchburg now > have a strong trademark protection and policing programs in place. John > Midlen said that the theft of a person's or business's name for use by > another as his internet domain name, deceives the public and is never > justified by resort to First Amendment or noncommercial use arguments. > > All churches and Christian ministries should be aware of their legal rights > to protect their good names and should take action when necessary to prevent > confusion and defamation against them. > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > This list is owned and operated by http://falwell.com. > To unsubscribe, e-mail: fc-unsubscribeat_private > For additional commands, e-mail: fc-helpat_private ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ Like Politech? 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