Websites and everyday bloggers are being sued for reprinting mainstream media colunmns/stories, thanks to a sleazebag company called Righthaven LLC. Las Vegas-based Righthaven finds a story that has been cut and pasted somewhere and buys the rights to the story weeks or months afterwords, then sues for copyright infringement. No cease and desist letters, no demands for removal, or warning of any kind. Righthaven brings you right to a courtroom and sues you for...wait for it...$150,000. Of course, they hope that bloggers will settle out of court. Obviously this is more about making some dough, than protecting copyright. Oh. And in their lawsuit they ask for control of the offending website or blog.
This appears to be highly unethical, even if true copyright infringement had taken place, because the amounts sought here are way out of proportion to the actual damages. And even if a suit has no merit, it takes serious money just to get it dismissed. Some bloggers have been forced to file bankruptcy in the wake of a Righthaven attack.
Under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, a website normally enjoys effective immunity from civil copyright liability for user content, provided it promptly removes infringing material at the request of a rightsholder. The problem: a site has to register an official contact point for DMCA takedown notices, a process that involves filling out a form and mailing a $105 fee to the federal government. According to Wired Magazine, Righthaven’s lawsuits targeting user content suggests it’s specifically going after sites that failed to fill out that federal paperwork.
Righthaven Victims is a blog where you can learn more about what Righthaven is up to. Don't miss the blog's links, which shuttle you to numerous other websites detailing the devastating impact Righthaven is having on mom and pop bloggers across the country.
You can read more about a South Carolina blogger who just got nailed by Righthaven at in this Las Vegas Sun article. In a suit filed Dec. 2, a greedy South Carolina attorney claims Dana Eiser posted to her blog lowcountry912 a “literary work” for which Righthaven owns the copyright to. That so-called "literary work" is a September 23 Mike Rosen column that ran in the Denver Post. Eiser reposted the blog on Sept. 23, the day it ran in the Post, giving attribution to the Denver Post and Rosen. On Nov. 19, Righthaven apparently applied to the U.S. Copyright Office for rights to the column, citing a transfer agreement from the Denver Post's owner, Media News.
The suit against Eiser appears to be the first lawsuit Righthaven has filed in a federal court outside of Nevada, where since March it has filed 179 copyright infringement lawsuits. Simple bloggers aren't the only ones being harrassed. According to Wired.com,RightHaven has now filed suit against the DrudgeReport.com and seeks as part of the suit, Drudge's domain name.
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