What EarlG was too modest to mention: Righthaven LLC v. Democratic Underground LLC

[marble falls]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Righthaven_LLC_v._Democratic_Underground_LLC

Righthaven LLC. v. Democratic Underground LLC, 791 F. Supp. 2d 968 (D. Nev. 2011), was a copyright infringement case which determined that a contract giving a party right to sue on behalf of a copyright holder does not give the party legal standing to file such lawsuits. This case is one of over 200 similar cases filed by Righthaven against media outlets using content from Stephens Media. Judge Roger L. Hunt ruled that Righthaven lacked standing to file a copyright infringement suit and ordered Righthaven to show cause within two weeks why it should not be sanctioned for failure to disclose Stephens Media as an interested party.

Democratic Underground (DU) is a website devoted to disseminating and discussing political news and progressive principles.[1] It is run by David Allen. On May 13, 2010, a DU user identified by the name "Pampango" posted a portion of an article from the Las Vegas Review-Journal about the polling status of several candidates running in the Republican Senate primary in Nevada. The excerpt posted contained 5 of the article's 50 sentences and linked back to the Las Vegas Review-Journal's website.

Righthaven was a copyright holding company founded in 2010. It searched the Internet for snippets from its partners' publications posted to third-party websites. Once it found such a snippet, it registered the copyright for that article, obtained a "partial assignment" of copyright from the true rightholder, and then threatened to sue the owner of the third-party website for considerable sums while offering to settle out of court for smaller sums. Righthaven and Stephens Media formed a contract in which Stephens Media assigned Righthaven a "right to sue" third parties without assigning the actual copyright. Righthaven would then file lawsuits or accept an out-of-court settlement, sharing a percentage of the proceeds with Stephens Media.

On August 10, 2010, Righthaven filed a lawsuit against Democratic Underground, LLC and David Allen, alleging that Democratic Underground and David Allen were liable for copyright infringement of works to which Righthaven owns a copyright and seeking injunctive relief and statutory damages.[2]

On September 27, 2010, Democratic Underground filed a counterclaim, arguing that Democratic Underground was not responsible for the posting, and that the excerpt posted to the site was a fair use.[3] Democratic Underground sought favorable judgment and attorney's fees, and demanded a jury trial for all triable issues of fact.

On November 15, 2010, Righthaven moved to voluntarily dismiss the case with prejudice. This would avoid having a ruling on the case that could set a precedent for its other cases.[4]

On December 7, Democratic Underground requested that the court deny the motion for dismissal and grant summary judgment in DU's favor.[4]

On June 14, 2011, Judge Roger L. Hunt found that Stephens Media had not transferred any copyrights to Righthaven, but merely a "right to sue," which is not a transferable right under copyright law.[5] Since Righthaven did not own the copyright for which it was filing the lawsuit, Hunt dismissed the case for lack of standing. In addition, since Righthaven had failed to identify Stephens Media as a financially interested party, Hunt ordered Righthaven to show cause why it should not be sanctioned for "flagrant misrepresentation to the Court."

On July 15, 2011, Hunt ruled that Righthaven misrepresented its relationship with Stephens Media and Stephens Media's financial interest in the lawsuit, and sanctioned it $5,000.[6] Righthaven was further ordered to file the transcript of the ruling in all the hundreds of other copyright cases it had brought forth against other parties in Nevada.

After requesting and receiving a stay of the monetary sanction, Righthaven sought another extension which the court did not grant.[7]

This ruling was widely reported on by various blogs, where it was generally well received. The case has been widely regarded as a legal victory against copyright trolls.[5][8][9][10]

The suit was the first of several major losses for Righthaven on grounds that it lacked standing to sue, and was ordered to pay the attorneys' fees of several of its defendants. Unable to pay those fees and sanctions, Righthaven was forced into receivership later in 2011.

[mountain grammy]

1. Righthaven.. really? Fuck those guys!

Do we have a "lefthaven" running around suing people? NO! They are money grabbing lunatics.

[marble falls]

2. DU killed Righthaven and copyright sitting.

[mountain grammy]

8. Yes, finally someone stood up to them

Just another reason why I love DU

[calimary]

11. SWEET!!!

Like how the Almond Joy slogan likes to say: “Indescribably delicious!”

[Brother Buzz]

15. Bob Weir's school buddy, songwriter, John Barlow deserves the credit

John Barlow was a genuine Renaissance man. Among many of his accomplishments he founded
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) represented DU and pulled DU’s bacon out of the fire.

https://www.eff.org/cases/righthaven-v-democratic-underground

Righthaven v. Democratic Underground

Democratic Underground -- represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Fenwick & West LLP, and attorney Chad Bowers -- was sued by Righthaven LLC on August 10 for a five-sentence excerpt of a Las Vegas Review-Journal news story that a user posted on the forum, with a link back to the Review-Journal website.

Righthaven has brought over 200 lawsuits in Nevada federal court claiming copyright infringement, even though they do not create, produce or distribute any content. Instead, they create lawsuits by scouring the Internet for content from Review-Journal stories posted on blogs and online forums, purporting to acquire the copyright to that particular story from Stephens Media LLC (the Review-Journal's publisher), and then suing the poster for infringement.

As part of its lawsuit business model, Righthaven claims damages of up to $150,000 under the Copyright Act's statutory damages provisions, seeks the target's domain name and uses these threats to attempt to push defendants into a quick settlement. In its answer and counterclaim, Democratic Underground asked the court to affirm that the excerpt of the article does not infringe copyright and is a fair use of the material, with no damages due to Righthaven.

On June 14, 2011, the Nevada federal court dismissed Righthaven's copyright claim, finding that the company did not own the copyright. The case for a declaration of non-infringement proceeded against Stephens Media, and resulted in a judgment of non-infringement.

[yellow dahlia]

3. I did not know about this case. Thank you.

One more reason to be impressed with the minds behind DU.

[IbogaProject]

5. Sounds like DU lost money

It seems that $5,000 sanction wasn't paid and I doubt anyone got legal fees reimbursed. Too bad the original rights holders weren't forced to pay those sanctions. Paul Krugman just had something similar and even more shady he had a bogus music copyright takedown on a podcast interview which contained no music, just outright harassment by a right wing harassment crew on Jan 18.

Paul Krugman

https://substack.com/@paulkrugman/note/c-201494647

There’s a company called We Are Music that reportedly specializes in making bogus claims of copyright infringement. Yesterday they came after me claiming copyright on … my conversation with Claudia Sahm. A joke for me, but probably ugly for many.

[OldBaldy1701E]

14. That's okay.

I have had a few attempts to sue me for copyright infringement... of my own music.

Once I remind them that I have proof that I wrote the tune as well as recordings that date back decades before their dated claim, they usually hem and haw and then I mention legal action on them (this is usually in the same missive). They usually stop right away.

It's not that this kind of thing is unexpected, it is that anyone would take it seriously without some serious vetting from both sides to prove they have a case. Some of these idiotic suits are allowed to go a long way before they are laughed out of court.

[ProfessorGAC]

21. Sounds Like Fantasy Suing...

...John Fogarty for sounding too much like himself! One of the dumber lawsuits in music business history.

[ForgedCrank]

10. Righthaven and

in cooperation with Las Vegas Review-Journal, sued hundreds of websites with the same scheme, many fought back and finally crushed them and obliterated the company. Unfortunately, Las Vegas Review-Journal survived it. They sued Drudge and many gun rights website, etc. It was all a cash grab scheme with no other considerations.

It really is a shame that most people don't know about it because in a just world, Las Vegas Review-Journal would have died on the vine from a lack of subscriptions and ad revenue as a result of their unethical behaviors and abuse of the legal system.

[John1956PA]

4. The old phrase "Too clever by half" comes to mind.

I recall news reports about the litigation, but I did not follow it closely. Thank you for your detailed account of the case and its precedent in the cause of countering vexatious litigation.

[Zackzzzz]

6. WOW. Outstanding.

[Buddyzbuddy]

7. Good read and good result.

I wish the judge had enforced the sanction. I think corporate bankruptcy laws are too lenient. People running these scams should have more skin in the game.

As an owner operator of a semi, I had to carry a bond and $1 million in insurance, as a Realtor I had to carry indemnity insurance in case of lawsuits.

[Joinfortmill]

9. Cool. Go DU!

[berniesandersmittens]

12. Today is EarlG's 25 year DUversary!

Thanks for all you do EarlG!!!

[BumRushDaShow]

13. I remember that

and they were going around from site to site suing, like a bunch of jackals.

I am sure that was a very stressful period for EarlG, Skinner, and Elad but thankfully it ended well AND ended that scammer.

[FakeNoose]

16. K & R Nice history lesson here ... Thanks Marble Falls

[Cha]

17. Whoa... Don't Mess With DU!

Mahalo for this part of DU's History, marble falls!

[Pas-de-Calais]

18. I remember this,

I can recall thinking Righthaven is gonna lose their case. No way to win

[marble falls]

19. The whole concept sounded like someone thought they'd found a magic loophole that they thought would get ...

... them at least nuisance settlements, and maybe a chance to argue in front of SCOTUS. DU shut them down PDQ.

[Clouds Passing]

20. Accolades and Gratitude to DU

The depths the scammers go to to steal. They could be using their energy and resources to make the world a better place for everyone. What a useless waste of life these people are.