New Berkman Amici Brief In Domain Name Case

The Berkman Center's Clinical Program in Cyberlaw this week filed another amici curiae brief in a trademark appeal involving an allegedly infringing domain name. Lamparello v. Jerry Falwell involves a website, fallwell.com, critiquing and offering alternative biblical analyses of Rev. Falwell's views on homosexuality. The Berkman brief, filed on behalf of 12 Intellectual Property law faculty, asks the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse the district court's holding that the website offered a commercial “service” that triggered the application of federal trademark laws.  The brief urges the Court to conclude that, consistent with First Amendment principles, "services" must occur in a commercial context before the Lanham Act applies, and that Lamparello's website was not commercial because it had no business aspects at all, but was instead purely a forum for expression of critical views of a public figure on matters of important public debate. The Lamparello brief was drafted by clinical students Eric Priest and Ari Waldman and the ClinicalProgram co-directors, with assistance from Professor Rebecca Tushnet of Georgetown and NYU.