Class-action lawsuit targets Righthaven's "extortion litigation"; ArsTechnica.com, 5/18/11

Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica.com; Class-action lawsuit targets Righthaven's "extortion litigation" :

"Righthaven has gone after more than 250 publishers for allegedly violating newspaper copyrights, and it has extracted settlements from many of them. But one defendant is fighting back in Colorado, launching a class-action counterclaim against Righthaven.

"Class Plaintiffs are victims of extortion litigation by Righthaven,” says the counterclaim, “which has made such extortion litigation a part of its, if not its entire, business model.”"

Enforcing Copyrights Online, for a Profit; New York Times, 5/2/11

Dave Frosch, New York Times; Enforcing Copyrights Online, for a Profit:

"Whether the defendant credits the original author or removes the material after being sued matters little. None of the cases have gone to trial yet, and many have been settled out of court. In two instances, judges have ruled against Righthaven in pretrial motions. According to The Las Vegas Sun, which has tracked the cases, the only two publicly disclosed settlements were for $2,185 and $5,000."

[Podcast] Newspapers vs. The Internet; OnTheMedia.org, 4/22/11

[Podcast] OnTheMedia.org; Newspapers vs. The Internet:

"Newspapers have been teaming up with a lawfirm called Righthaven, to file lawsuits against people posting copyrighted content on the web. Righthaven's detractors call them "copyright trolls," but they say they're much needed protectors of a newspaper's intellectual property. Bob talks to Joe Mullin of Paidcontent.org who has covered Righthaven's lawsuits, and Righthaven CEO Steve Gibson."

Copyright troll Righthaven achieves spectacular "fair use" loss; ArsTechnica.com, 3/22/11

Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica.com; Copyright troll Righthaven achieves spectacular "fair use" loss:

"Last Friday, a federal judge ruled in one of the company's many lawsuits, saying that even the complete republication of copyrighted newspaper content can be "fair use."...

At a hearing last week, the judge decided that CIO's use of the full article text was, in fact, a fair use under the "four-factor test" enshrined in law."

Righthaven responds to fair use defense in suit; Miami Herald, 12/27/10

Miami Herald; Righthaven responds to fair use defense in suit:

"A company suing websites on behalf of the owner of the Las Vegas Review-Journal says an Oregon nonprofit that helps immigrants isn't exempt from copyright laws."

Nevada court hits copyright troll with Fair Use surprise; ArsTechnica.com, 11/24/10

Matthew Lasar, ArsTechnica.com; Nevada court hits copyright troll with Fair Use surprise:

"A Nevada judge has given copyright troll Righthaven until mid-December to explain why one of the law firm's targets wasn't exercising its right to Fair Use when it republished a newspaper article on its website."

http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2010/11/nevada-court-hits-righthaven-with-fair-use-surprise.ars

Sharron Angle hit with R-J copyright infringement lawsuit; Las Vegas Sun, 9/3/10

Steve Green, Las Vegas Sun; Sharron Angle hit with R-J copyright infringement lawsuit:

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/sep/03/sharron-angle-hit-r-j-copyright-lawsuit/

Copy Fight; Reason, 7/27/10

Greg Beato, Reason; Copy Fight: A new front opens in the battle over online copyright infringement:

"Since 2003, Clayton Cramer, an author and historian who has written numerous books on the right to keep and bear arms and the evolution of America’s gun culture, has edited a website that is currently called The Armed Citizen. With the help of another contributor, David Burnett, Cramer uses the site as a repository for newspaper articles that document instances where firearms owners use their weapons in self-defense. Over the years, the pair had posted excerpts and complete text of approximately 4,700 articles, and in doing so, they created a unique and useful archive for researchers, activists, and people who simply enjoy feel-good tales of homeowners protecting themselves and their property from intruders and assailants by any means necessary.

In all that time, they say, they’d never received a single request from a copyright owner to remove an article. Last week, however, Cramer and Burnett were caught off-guard by a figure who aims to establish himself as the new sheriff in the lawless wilds of cyberspace. He was packing a .36 caliber copyright infringement lawsuit and he didn’t bother with a warning shot. Instead, Cramer and Burnett only learned they were being sued after a reporter from the Las Vegas Sun contacted them about the case.

The man who brought the suit against The Armed Citizen is named Steve Gibson. He’s the founder of a company called Righthaven. Righthaven’s business model involves acquiring the copyrights for specific articles originally published by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, then filing lawsuits against website owners who have posted those articles without permission. In March, it filed its first lawsuit against a New Jersey company called MoneyReign."

http://reason.com/archives/2010/07/27/copy-fight