Judge strips Righthaven of rights to 278 copyrights and its trademark

[Newsjock]

Source: Vegas Inc (Las Vegas Sun)

Like a gunfighter with no bullets, Las Vegas copyright company Righthaven LLC no longer has any copyrights to sue over.

A federal judge in Las Vegas on Monday stripped Righthaven of whatever interests it has in its 278 federal copyright registrations as well as its trademark.

Judge Philip Pro ordered that the copyrights and trademarks be transferred to a court-appointed receiver so they can be auctioned to cover some of Righthaven’s debts.

... Marc Randazza, a Las Vegas attorney representing (Wayne) Hoehn, said after the hearing that Pro’s order wipes out Righthaven’s interest in all of its pending lawsuits and appeals. Since Righthaven now owns no copyrights, it has nothing to sue over or litigate over in appeals courts, he said.

Read more: http://www.vegasinc.com/news/2012/mar/05/judge-strips-righthaven-rights-278-copyrights-and-

[Hissyspit]

1. Karma. nt

[sakabatou]

2. Karma: Ain't it a bitch?

[leveymg]

3. sweet

[DCKit]

4. "Dam aktvist juje1q1!111!" - Soon to be posted on FR

Bwahahahahahahaha!!!!

[Old Codger]

5. Something about

What goes around comes around, and payback is an MF.

[Lasher]

6. They don't even have rights to their own company trademark, ha ha.

[kentauros]

10. I know!

When I read that I was like "WHOA! That's Hugh!!"

It's almost like they don't have the legal right to say who they are

[Occulus]

17. That means they can no longer sue over its unauthorized use

Would it be permissible to make their trademark worthless, so it can't be auctioned?

[BlancheSplanchnik]

19. HAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

?zz=1

[DeSwiss]

7. K&R

[PDJane]

8. Couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch..

[MADem]

9. Bwahahahahahahahaha!!! Tee hee hee hee hee! Muahahahahaha! Chuckle, chortle!

Up yer nose widda rubber hose, Righthaven! Twice as faaah widda chocolate baaaah!



Couldn't happen to a nicer group of scumbags!

[dixiegrrrrl]

24. Neener

[IMG][/IMG]

[MADem]

25. That is beyond brilliant! nt

[dixiegrrrrl]

26. Ty..once in a while the brain hits the right synapses....lol.

[bananas]

11. I wonder who will buy them?

"Judge Philip Pro ordered that the copyrights and trademarks be transferred to a court-appointed receiver so they can be auctioned to cover some of Righthaven’s debts."

[Pab Sungenis]

12. I still want to see if we can buy the copyright for the story DU got sued for.

Nice little present for Skinner.

[bhsof8d9sa]

13. Spam deleted by OKNancy (MIR Team)

[csziggy]

14. Oh darn - they didn't take the porn movies

From the link in the OP:

Most of the copyrights to be transferred under Pro’s order cover material assigned to Righthaven for lawsuit purposes by the Review-Journal and the Denver Post.

Some exceptions include some sports betting material that Righthaven used in its single lawsuit that didn’t involve newspaper material.

Other exceptions include two porn movies — Ebony Amateurs Vegas Edition #10 and Ebony Princess #3 — and a document called “The Righthaven Philosophy” that apparently spells out the company’s failed plan to make money by suing over copyright infringements.

[Occulus]

18. I should think any plaintiff would WANT them to continue to own that last one

a document called “The Righthaven Philosophy” that apparently spells out the company’s failed plan to make money by suing over copyright infringements.

Kind of incriminating, no?

[csziggy]

20. Maybe it counts as a communication between client and attorney

And so protected from being seized? Or perhaps that set of material could be part of a criminal investigation, including the porn? They certainly seem to belong to the same class.

But I sure would want to see what that document contains!

[dixiegrrrrl]

27. One day soon it will be a collector's item for the best business FAIL plan.

[JBoy]

15. Mama don't take my bluetooth away-a-a-ay!

[FiveGoodMen]

16. !

[jonthebru]

21. Corporations are people man.

[Warpy]

22. This is why people have to stand up to bullies instead of paying them to go away.

I am delighted that DU was one such site that stood up to them. Their business model was clearly one that relied on extortion of settlements instead of fighting their generally bogus claims in court. Once fought, they crumbled.

Righthaven is gone. However, the same players will be back, likely with a slightly different take on copyright violation by websites.

[Uncle Joe]

23. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Newsjock.

[sonias]

28. K&R

Wow. The news keeps getting better and better each day. Steven Gibson got his day in court but it didn't go his way this time. boo hoo.