A federal judge has ordered the seizure of assets of Righthaven LLC. http://www.vegasinc.com/news/2011/nov/01/marshals-ordered-seize-righthaven-assets/. Righthaven has filed hundreds of lawsuits without prior notice claiming copyright infringement of rights they have acquired or allege they have acquired from a variety of media. These copyright trolls are undoubtedly one reason this forum bans the use of "drive by" posts where posters simply post a link to a story without comment.
It seems that a few of those sued have fought back including Wayne Hoehn, an attorney from Kentucky, who claimed the suit violated his First Amendment rights, violated fair use exceptions to the copyright laws, and who challenged standing of Righthaven to bring the suit; i.e., they had not adequately established they owned the copyrights.
When Hoehn won, he was awarded $34,000 in attorney fees and now another $30,000 in fees trying to collect those fees. Righthaven can't or won't pay and has apparently settled on a strategy of further litigation. See http://www.vegasinc.com/news/2011/nov/03/righthaven-may-contest-creditors-writ/.
While a handful of websites might be improperly profiting from the intellectual property of others, the copyright trolls do indeed pose a serious threat to discourse on topics of interest to millions on the Internet. I, for one, am glad to see the trolls take a body blow like this.
It seems that a few of those sued have fought back including Wayne Hoehn, an attorney from Kentucky, who claimed the suit violated his First Amendment rights, violated fair use exceptions to the copyright laws, and who challenged standing of Righthaven to bring the suit; i.e., they had not adequately established they owned the copyrights.
When Hoehn won, he was awarded $34,000 in attorney fees and now another $30,000 in fees trying to collect those fees. Righthaven can't or won't pay and has apparently settled on a strategy of further litigation. See http://www.vegasinc.com/news/2011/nov/03/righthaven-may-contest-creditors-writ/.
While a handful of websites might be improperly profiting from the intellectual property of others, the copyright trolls do indeed pose a serious threat to discourse on topics of interest to millions on the Internet. I, for one, am glad to see the trolls take a body blow like this.