Drudge Report owner sued by Righthaven

lasvegassun.com ^ | Dec 9, 2010 | By Steve Green

[Jim Robinson]

Las Vegas copyright enforcement company Righthaven LLC on Wednesday filed its second copyright infringement lawsuit over Denver Post material, this time suing a big target: Drudge Report operator Matt Drudge.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for Nevada, charges a Nov. 18 Denver Post "illustration" called "Transportation Security Administration agents perform enhanced pat-downs" was posted without authorization the same day on the Drudge Report website as well as the drudgereportarchives.com site.

A court exhibit, however, indicates the illustration is actually a Denver Post photograph of a TSA officer patting down a passenger at Denver International Airport. Righthaven usually sues over unauthorized online postings of news stories, columns and editorials. Lately it has sued over alleged infringements involving graphics and, now, a photograph.

"Mr. Drudge has willfully engaged in the copyright infringement of the work," Wednesday's lawsuit charges.

A message for comment was left with Drudge, who was sued personally, as well as codefendant drudgereportarchives.com.

Righthaven since March has now filed at least 181 copyright infringement lawsuits against website operators and bloggers. It usually sues over Las Vegas Review-Journal material. An affiliate of Stephens Media LLC, owner of the Review-Journal, is an investor in Righthaven. Last week, Righthaven started suing over Denver Post material.

[presently no screen name]

Drudge gave them free advertising - now they bite that hand.

[ken5050]

Jim, I remember back when FR was a defendant in a lawsuite, related to “fair use”, IIRC. FR’s lawyer would occasionally post threads, explaining what what happening. Since this case appears to be equally important, might we somehow have some FReeper legal talent explain what’s going on, and why, and the merits..

[SandRat]

Hope Matt not only defeats this attempt at Blackmail/Extortion but, counter-sues and Bankrupts them.

[WKUHilltopper]

Who is the money behind this righthaven?

[jimbo123]

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/dec/08/ties-between-stephens-media-righthaven-copyright-l/

[Red in Blue PA]

The law used as a bludgeon.

[Red Badger]

Death by a thousand cuts...............
It would be interesting to know if the Denver Post website hit count went up after the photograph in question was posted. If so they cannot claim any damages. And if they truly wanted to “protect” their copyright, they can use software to prevent any hotlinks, it’s done all the time.................

[Bobalu]

I have taken to posting links to images at Google.images.
Since they have enlarged the thumbnails they use they are quite suitable for posting and the actual images are at google. Let them file an action against google and see how far they get with that.

For example...these images are google thumbnails hosted on google servers.
Google usually indexes and posts thumbs for images on news sites within minutes.
The google spiders are very busy.

[DaxtonBrown]

The RJ and Denver Post are in the process of getting what they want - being totally ignored on the web. Who would dare post a link to these two now? Let their readership dry up.

[Niteranger68]

Righthaven is a domestic terrorist organization.....period. Death to their cause!

[Nachum]

Some interesting stuff on Righthaven

http://www.righthavenlawsuits.com/

http://www.copyright.gov/onlinesp/

Some targets of Righthaven lawsuits fighting back

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/aug/04/some-targets-righthaven-lawsuits-fighting-back/

Righthaven Victims

http://righthavenvictims.blogspot.com/

[Nachum]

A little bit more...

Newspaper Blacklist
Do NOT blog or post ANY stories coming from these sources. These newspapers have aligned with Righthaven to sue bloggers, small businesses and non-profits in “shake down” lawsuits.

http://righthavenvictims.blogspot.com/p/participating-newspapers.html

MediaNews Group

* Alameda Times-Star
* Enterprise-Record
* Times-Standard
* Argus
* The Daily Review
* Lake County Record-Bee
* Press-Telegram
* The Monterey County Herald
* Marin Independent Journal
* Oakland Tribune
* Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
* Oroville Mercury-Register
* Pasadena Star-News
* Tri-Valley Herald
* Red Bluff Daily News
* Redlands Daily Facts
* The Sun
* San Jose Mercury News
* San Mateo County Times
* Santa Cruz Sentinel
* Daily Breeze
* The Ukiah Daily Journal
* The Reporter
* Times-Herald
* Contra Costa Times
* San Gabriel Valley Tribune
* Whittier Daily News
* Daily Democrat
* Daily News
* Daily Camera
* The Denver Post
* Fort Morgan Times
* Journal-Advocate
* Sentinel & Enterprise
* The Sun
* North Adams Transcript
* The Berkshire Eagle
* The Detroit News
* St. Paul Pioneer Press
* Alamogordo Daily News
* Carlsbad Current-Argus
* The Deming Headlight
* The Daily Times
* Las Cruces Sun-News
* Public Opinion
* The Evening Sun
* Lebanon Daily News
* The York Dispatch
* York Daily Record - York Sunday News
* El Paso Times
* The Salt Lake Tribune
* Bennington Banner
* Brattleboro Reformer
* Charleston Daily Mail

WEHCO Media

* WECHO Media
* Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
* Banner News
* Benton County Daily Record
* California Democrat
* Camden News
* Chattanooga Times Free Press
* El Dorado News-Times
* Fulton Sun
* News Tribune
* NW Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
* NW Arkansas Times
* Rogers Morning News
* Springdale Morning News
* Texarkana Gazette
* The Sentinel-Record

Stephens Media

* Southwest Times Record
* Pine Bluff Commercial
* North Little Rock Times
* Press Argus Courier
* Jacksonville Patriot
* Sherwood Voice
* Maumelle Monitor
* Cabot Star-Herald
* Lonoke Democrat
* Carlisle Independent
* Hot Springs Village Voice
* Van Buren County Democrat
* Booneville Democrat
* Charleston Express
* Greenwood Democrat
* Paris Express
* White Hall Progress
* Lincoln Leader
* Farmington Post
* Prairie Grove Enterprise
* Hawaii Tribune-Herald
* West Hawaii Today
* Big Island Weekly
* North Hawaii News
* Las Vegas Review-Journal
* Las Vegas CityLife
* El Tiempo
* Las Vegas Business Press
* Boulder City Review
* Ely Times, Ely
* Rebel Nation
* Pahrump Valley Times
* Eureka Sentinal
* Tonopah Times-Bonanza
* Courier-Tribune
* The Herald Democrat
* Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise
* Pawhuska Journal-Capital
* Anna-Melissa Tribune
* Grayson County Shopper
* Prosper Press, Prosper
* Van Alstyne Leader
* Lake Texoma Life
* The Daily Herald
* The Advertiser News
* The Value Guide
* Franklin Life
* Brentwood Life
* Healthy Living
* The Daily World
* The Vidette
* The North Coast News
* The South Beach Bulletin
* East County News

Block Righthaven Clients
http://righthavenvictims.blogspot.com/p/block-stephens-media-sites.html

[WKUHilltopper]

Thank you...apparently a mad dog even attacking it’s masters.

[KC Burke]

I know what the guy on the left has done in defense of the Constitution, but who are those guys in skirts and knee pants in the right hand picture?

[Nachum]

Righthaven: Obama Ties To Copyright War Deepen

http://www.dailypaul.com/node/143767

[jimbo123]

Denver Post chief is also top dog at the Associated Press.

William Dean Singleton

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Dean_Singleton

[jimbo123]

SINGLETON, WILLIAM D
CHERRY HILLS VILLA,CO 80202 MEDIA NEWS GROUP 7/18/01 $5,000 Democratic Senatorial Campaign Cmte (D)

SINGLETON, WILLIAM D MR
DENVER,CO 80202 MEDIANEWS GROUP INC./EXECUTIVE 8/8/03 $2,000 Bush, George W (R)

[Jim Robinson]

Our friends over at Democratic Underground with the help of Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) are giving Righthaven fits too:

Democratic Underground Responds to Righthaven Copyright Troll Lawsuit

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/12/democratic-underground-responds-righthaven

Commentary by Kurt Opsahl

Righthaven is attempting to make a business out of suing Internet websites for copyright infringement. It has filed 180 copyright actions so far —without ever first asking that a work be removed from the target website—in each case alleging “willful infringement” and attempting to extract settlements by threats of statutory damages (up to $150,000), attorneys’ fees and seizure of the domain name.

Democratic Underground — represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Fenwick & West LLP, and attorney Chad Bowers — was sued by Righthaven on August 10 for a five-sentence excerpt of a Las Vegas Review-Journal news story that a user posted on the forum, with a link back to the Review-Journal website.

Democratic Underground, a political message forum, refused to be intimidated by Righthaven’s action. They retained counsel and responded with a counterclaim that joined Righthaven’ affiliate and funder, Stephens Media, LLC (publisher of the Review-Journal), and laid bare the numerous defects not only in Righthaven’s claims, but in its business model itself. Not surprisingly, Righthaven now wants out—so badly, in fact, that it has moved to voluntarily dismiss its claim with prejudice in order to avoid a decision on the merits. However, Righthaven pleads to be let off the hook for Democratic Underground’s fees and costs defending the lawsuit.

Democratic Underground responded to Righthaven’s motion yesterday. DU agrees that this case should be over—indeed, it should never have started. But it should not end until Righthaven is called to account for the cost of the defense it provoked. To allow Righthaven to avoid compensating innocent defendants who refused to be coerced would be unjust and unsupportable. Accordingly, Democratic Underground asked the Court to deny the conditions Righthaven wrongfully proposed for the motion for voluntary dismissal and instead grant summary judgment in its favor.

In addition, Stephens Media has filed a motion to be let out of the case, piously claiming that it is just an innocent bystander, having done nothing but assign a copyright to Righthaven. To the contrary, Stephens Media has publicly admitted that it “grubstaked and contracted with a company called Righthaven,” and made numerous public statements discussing Stephens Media’s ownership interest in Righthaven, its control over who Righthaven sues, and Righthaven’s business practices that are based on agreements with Stephens Media: with its general counsel representing, for instance, that “I can tell Righthaven not to sue somebody.” Democratic Underground responded to that motion as well, asking the court to reject Stephens Media’s attempt to walk away from the copyright troll it created, and allow the counter-claim so that the online forum can receive full justice.

[LuvFreeRepublic]

Thanks for the post. I, for sure, want to keep track of this one. Drudge and FR are like coffee and cream. They go together all day, every day.

[jimbo123]

BESSEN, DAVID
CENTENNIAL,CO 80122 MEDIANEWS GROUP, INC./VP & CIO 10/5/08 $250 Obama, Barack (D)
EISENBERG, STEVEN
CENTENNIAL,CO 80112 MEDIANEWS GROUP, INC./BENEFITS MANA 9/26/10 $400 Clark, Tarryl (D)
EISENBERG, STEVEN
CENTENNIAL,CO 80112 MEDIANEWS GROUP, INC./BENEFITS MANA 10/10/10 $250 Clark, Tarryl (D)
EISENBERG, STEVEN
CENTENNIAL,CO 80112 MEDIANEWS GROUP, INC./BENEFITS MANA 9/26/10 $250 Grayson, Alan (D)
SINGLETON, W DEAN
DENVER,CO 80202 MEDIANEWS GROUP INC 7/13/99 $1,000 Bush, George W (R)
SINGLETON, WILLIAM D MR
DENVER,CO 80202 MEDIANEWS GROUP INC./EXECUTIVE 8/8/03 $2,000 Bush, George W (R)

FULTON, BEN
SALT LAKE CITY,UT 84151 MEDIA NEWS GROUP/REPORTER 9/20/08 $200 Obama, Barack (D)
GRILLY, ERIC J
DENVER,CO 80202 MEDIA NEWS GROUP 10/14/04 $250 Salazar, Ken (D)
SCUDDER, RICHARD
ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS,NJ 07716 MEDIA NEWS GROUP/PUBLISHER 9/25/06 $1,000 Udall, Mark (D)
SCUDDER, RICHARD
NAVESINK,NJ 07752 MEDIA NEWS GROUP 10/6/98 $1,000 Holt, Rush D (D)
SCUDDER, RICHARD B
ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS,NJ 07716 MEDIA NEWS GROUP/PUBLISHER 9/15/06 $1,500 Stender, Linda D (D)
SCUDDER, RICHARD B
ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS,NJ 07716 MEDIA NEWS GROUP/PUBLISHER 9/28/07 $1,500 Stender, Linda D (D)
SCUDDER, RICHARD B
ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS,NJ 07716 MEDIA NEWS GROUP/CHAIRMAN OF THE BO 9/13/06 $1,000 Democratic Senatorial Campaign Cmte (D)
SCUDDER, RICHARD B
FAIR HAVEN,NJ 07704 MEDIA NEWS GROUP/CHAIRMAN OF THE BV 6/27/08 $1,000 Obama, Barack (D)
SCUDDER, RICHARD B
NAVESINK,NJ 07752 MEDIA NEWS GROUP 9/2/98 $1,000 Ferguson, Michael A (R)
SCUDDER, RICHARD MR
PASSAIC,NJ 07055 MEDIA NEWS GROUP 2/27/99 $1,000 Bradley, Bill (D)
SCUDDER, RICHARD MR B
ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS,NJ 07716 MEDIA NEWS GROUP/PUBLISHER 8/7/01 $500 League of Conservation Voters
SINGLETON, W DEAN
HOUSTON,TX 77027 MEDIA NEWS GROUP 9/30/94 $1,000 Romney, Mitt (R)
SINGLETON, WILLIAM
DENVER,CO 80202 MEDIA NEWS GROUP/CEO 3/4/07 $1,000 Richardson, Bill (D)
SINGLETON, WILLIAM
DENVER,CO 80202 MEDIA NEWS GROUP 2/19/01 $500 Allard, Wayne (R)
SINGLETON, WILLIAM D
CHERRY HILLS VILLA,CO 80202 MEDIA NEWS GROUP 7/18/01 $5,000 Democratic Senatorial Campaign Cmte (D)
CHEROUTES, TRICIA
DENVER,CO 80209 DENVER POST 10/30/98 $500 Lamm, Dorothy V (D)
CHEROUTES, TRICIA FLYNN
DENVER,CO 80209 DENVER POST 12/31/97 $500 Lamm, Dorothy V (D)
COIL, KERRY R
LAKEWOOD,CO 80228 DENVER POST 10/11/00 $500 Democratic Party of Colorado (D)
COSBY, PATRICIA
PARKER,CO 80134 DENVER POSTAL CU/CEO 5/2/01 $250 Credit Union National Assn
IRWIN, WILLIAM
DENVER,CO 80202 DENVER POST/PRESSMAN 8/21/04 $358 America Coming Together
LITZAU, DAVID M MR
WESTMINSTER,CO 80234 DENVER POSTAL CU/MEMBER SERVICES 5/2/01 $206 Credit Union National Assn
MOORE, GREG
DENVER,CO 80202 DENVER POST/EDITOR IN CHIEF 12/19/08 $300 Democratic Party of Colorado (D)
SINGLETON, DEAN
DENVER,CO 80202 DENVER POST 10/14/96 $500 Allard, Wayne (R)
SINGLETON, W DEAN
DENVER,CO 80202 DENVER POST 6/1/98 $500 Campbell, Ben Nighthorse (R)