Judge doubtful of Righthaven’s right to sue over R-J material

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Las Vegas Sun

One of the judges most critical of newspaper copyright infringement lawsuit filer Righthaven LLC said in an order Thursday that Righthaven does not appear to have the right to sue over Las Vegas Review-Journal stories.

U.S. District Judge James Mahan, who last week signed an order finding a Righthaven defendant from Oregon was protected by fair use in posting an entire Review-Journal story, on Thursday ordered Righthaven to show cause during a hearing next month on why another case against Pahrump website operator Michael Scaccia should not be dismissed.

The newly-unsealed Strategic Alliance Agreement between Righthaven and Review-Journal owner Stephens Media LLC "appears to support defendant Scaccia’s claim that Righthaven does not have standing to sue for copyright infringement," Mahan wrote in Thursday’s order.

Righthaven attorneys have insisted their Review-Journal lawsuits are on solid legal ground in that Stephens Media assigns ownership of copyrighted material to Righthaven and Righthaven then licenses that material back to Stephens Media for its use.



Read more: http://www.vegasinc.com/news/2011/apr/28/judge-doubtful-righthavens-right-sue-over-r-j-mate/