Righthaven ordered to pay attorney’s fees in another case ($131,457 to DU)

[Newsjock]

Last edited Thu Jun 14, 2012, 11:36 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: Vegas Inc (Las Vegas Sun)

Righthaven LLC, the Las Vegas copyright infringement lawsuit filer, was ordered Thursday to pay $131,457 in attorney's fees to a defendant that prevailed against Righthaven in court.

U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt in Las Vegas ordered that Righthaven pay the fees to attorneys for the Democratic Underground, a political website operator in the Washington, D.C., area.

The order lifts to $318,138 the amount Righthaven has been ordered to pay copyright defendants in Righthaven cases in Nevada and Colorado.

... In the Democratic Underground case, Righthaven didn't respond to its attorney's fee request. In fact, the only sign of life at Righthaven in recent months is that it may continue pursuing at least one of its appeals of its legal setbacks.

Read more: http://www.vegasinc.com/news/2012/jun/14/righthaven-ordered-pay-attorneys-fees-another-case/

---

Full ruling here (PDF):
http://ia700509.us.archive.org/5/items/gov.uscourts.nvd.75386/gov.uscourts.nvd.75386.201.0.pdf

[freshwest]

1. YAY! Love it!

[Robb]

2. Ha ha!!

[klook]

3. That Grovelbot is really effective.

Great news - congrats, guys!

[Hassin Bin Sober]

4. Don't forget: Freerepublic wet their pants and paid Righthaven off when threatened.

Whaddya expect from a bunch of chicken-hawks?

[Lasher]

5. No shit?

I did not know that.

[dsc]

8. free republic was much liklier to have been guilty

we are very diligent about enforcing a 4 paragraph rule which meant we were really within fair use bounds. Free Republic was way laxer about enforcing such a rule.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

11. I haven't followed the case VERY closely but don't think it hinged on our...

... 4 paragraph rule adherence.

No matter which way you slice it, Righthaven was a paper tiger based on a sham transaction business model. Righthaven folded like a cheap suit under the slightest scrutiny.

Rimjob is a sucker/idiot. Maybe he will claim he thought Righthaven was an off-shore bank and THAT'S why he cut them a check.

[boppers]

12. Intent to follow rules goes a long way for a judge or a jury.

It wasn't the deciding factor, according to what I've read, but it's one of those little things that matter.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

22. Did that piece even get adjudicated?

My understanding is it never got past "standing" and the whole mess unraveled.

But, yes, I agree on your point.

[boppers]

26. Harm comes before standing.

In order to show standing, you have to demonstrate the harm you are standing for.

Imagine it the other way around:
"I'm here to sue"
"Why?"

[MrModerate]

10. Making distinctions between what is just and unjust . . .

Isn't exactly Free Republic's long suit.

[freshwest]

17. Freeperville's 'colors do run.' Unlike Skinner, who took a principled stand.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

19. Maybe the freepers run to confuse their enemies more!

[LynneSin]

27. Free Republic was sued by the LA Times and Washington Post.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.A._Times_v._Free_Republic

L.A. Times v. Free Republic is a 1998 United States district court copyright law case. Several newspapers sued the Internet forum Free Republic for allowing its users to repost the full text of copyrighted newspaper articles, asserting that this constituted copyright infringement. Free Republic claimed that they under the doctrine of fair use and the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech the reposting of articles were not liable. The federal courts ruled in favor of the newspapers.

Not by some shitass company that tried to make a buck by copyrighting articles they found posted on websites, which is pretty much what Righthaven did.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Righthaven

Righthaven LLC is a copyright holding company founded in early 2010, which enters agreements from its partner newspapers after finding that their content has been copied to online sites without permission, in order to engage in litigation against the site owners for copyright infringement. The lawsuits have been heavily criticized by commentators, who describe the activity as copyright trolling and the company as a "lawsuit factory". Righthaven LLC's CEO, Steven Gibson, is a partner in the Las Vegas office of American law firm Dickinson Wright and regularly speaks to the media about Righthaven.

As far as I know, no major newspaper has ever sued Democratic Underground.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

28. Free repubic was also sued and settled with righthaven:

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/oct/20/righthaven-defendant-wins-first-lawsuit-dismissal-/
Separately, Righthaven reached additional confidential settlements with these defendants:

--Gaming industry publisher Anthony Curtis, whose case attracted attention since it involved a story Curtis had made possible by supplying information to the Review-Journal

--The Free Republic, a big conservative website
--John Glenn

--Herbalscience Ltd.

--Bisig Impact Group

--American Political Action Committee

--Tom Johnson and Alan Potasnik

--Breakdown of America and Stacy Nason

--Dr. Shezad Malik Law Firm

[wingzeroday]

30. FR

Did settle with RH. It was buried somewhere in between all the posts they made about how the Somali Piracy incidents would cease if ransoms were no longer paid.

[NRaleighLiberal]

6. great news! Now the MIRT can finally get paid!

[longship]

7. They earn every penny!

Keeping DU neat and clean, free from SPAM and Trolls.

Good show DU legal team. And good show MIRT.

Thanks, Skinner and Co.

[KT2000]

9. Good news!

Hope the Democratic Party knows about this and learns from it.

[Art_from_Ark]

13. Congratulations to DU!

[NBachers]

14. The Big Political Website Democratic Underground

This just hasta be rec'd

[philly_bob]

15. I'm so proud of you folks! /nt

[left on green only]

16. As I understand the legal world, there is a difference between receiving a judgement and actually..

collecting on it. Would any of you legal types out there care to comment on what the chances are of DU actually receiving any pay dirt on this one?

[dsc]

18. let's just say I wouldn't be spending the money yet

We are definitely behind all the previous judgements handed out (presuming those lawyers followed through on attaching assets). My guess is we will get nothing unless either a) right haven has been hiding assets and we find them before any other creditors do or b) the limited assets that right haven has turn out to be less limited than we think.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

21. Slim to none and slim just left town.

Righthaven's office shit has already been auctioned. Much to my chagrin, the CEO's headset was a popular item. I suggested Skinner buy it and mount it on the DU office wall. I wasn't the only one who thought that would be a nice trophy.

[Posteritatis]

25. Righthaven's basically a gently smoking crater as is, so pretty slim. (nt)

[Rhiannon12866]

20. K&R!!! Terrific news!!!

[dkf]

23. Woohoo!!!!

[MADem]

24. Soooo....free stars for everyone? No? Not even a few? ... nt

[xfundy]

29. I had a crappy day

until just this minute. Way to go!

[FiveGoodMen]

31. Ah, now that feels good!