DU keeps eviscerating copyright trolls Righthaven.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

http://paidcontent.org/article/419-righthavens-secret-contract-is-revealedwill-its-strategy-collapse

Angered at Righthaven’s behavior, a Las Vegas federal judge unsealed the company’s heretofore confidential agreement with the Las Vegas Review-Journal late on Friday. The contract reveals that the controversial copyright-enforcement company and LV R-J parent company Stephens Media are splitting their net earnings from suing hundreds of bloggers on a 50-50 basis. It also shows that the LV R-J is still largely in control of Righthaven’s litigation strategy—a fact that could end up being ruinous for Righthaven’s campaign of copyright lawsuits. (...)

This agreement is under attack by defense lawyers—and if those attacks are successful, it will undermine Righthaven’s entire business. Righthaven sued political blog Democratic Underground in August for printing an excerpt of an article from the LV R-J. DU hooked up with pro bono lawyers from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who are now arguing that this agreement to move around copyrights and sue over them is invalid and a “sham.” The problem is that Stephens Media didn’t actually assign any of the rights related to copyright to Righthaven except the right to sue—and that’s arguably illegal under case law. (Copyright geeks, see Silvers v. Sony Entertainment for more detail.) In other words, none of the important things that come with a copyright—such as the right to make copies of a work, or distribute it, or make “derivative works”—were handed off to Righthaven. Only the right to sue was given, and that makes the copyright transfer bogus, argue DU lawyers.

If the lawyers representing DU are successful in this argument, it would undermine every lawsuit Righthaven has filed based on LV R-J copyrights. Righthaven has filed more than 250 lawsuits, mostly against small blogs and websites; every one defendant now has access to this unsealed agreement. If Righthaven’s agreement with MediaNews and The Denver Post is similar, it really could destroy their whole project, since those are their two main clients.

DU lawyers want to go after attorneys’ fees—and there is now a scenario in which it’s not just Righthaven but its newspaper clients that will have to pay. Since Stephens Media never truly lost control of its copyrights, it should be brought into the lawsuit as a party, DU lawyers argue. Attorneys’ fees in a case like Democratic Underground—which is employing top IP lawyers from both the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Fenwick & West, one of Silicon Valley’s go-to law firms—could easily run into the low six figures. (These lawyers have taken the DU case on a pro bono basis, but that doesn’t mean they can’t collect attorneys fees at market rates.) (more at link)

Ream 'em, folks. Ream 'em good.

[pipi_k]

1. I hope those scum get flushed into the sewers where they belong n/t

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

2. Replying because there was a posting bug and this OP doesn't show in My Posts.

Urk.

[sabrina 1]

3. Sounds like DU has some very good lawyers.

I'm surprised that what they have discovered, that the copyrights were never actually handed over to Righthaven, wasn't discovered before.

The problem is that Stephens Media didn’t actually assign any of the rights related to copyright to Righthaven except the right to sue—and that’s arguably illegal under case law

[SidDithers]

4. Kick their asses, DU & EFF!...nt

Sid

[ddeclue]

5. ha ha...

:rofl:

Stick it to'em DU and EFF!