So, the lawyer involved (Righthaven) does not own the articles, only the copywrite?
It sounds like the publishing world’s answer to derivatives.
Maybe they can sell the ink of the articles to someone else....or all the articles and verbs of being.
Truly a weird reach to make some money.
I don't know and I don't think it matters. What they have purchased is the right to sue for any copyright violation and to be the plaintiffs (thus insulating the newspapers from any problems that might arise if they were to lose the lawsuit and be countersued for some tort, like abuse of process).
This kind of practice of law appears to me to be quite similar to a law firm that used to exist in California called the "Trevor Law Group".
The tactics of Righthaven appear to be almost identical to those of the Trevor Law Group and their abuse of the legal system appears to be at least as eggregious.
Ultimately all the lawyers at the Trevor Law Group were disbarred.
We can only hope that the same fate awaits the lawyers at Righthaven.