Righthaven Expands Troll Operation With Newspaper Giant
Copyright troll Righthaven, which sues blogs and websites for posting newspaper content without permission, is making good on its promise to expand its reach, and is now working on behalf of the nation’s second-biggest news chain.
Las Vegas–based Righthaven was formed this spring for the sole purpose of acquiring copyrights and suing to financially benefit from allegedly misappropriated intellectual property. It has filed more than 180 suits on behalf of Stephens Media’s Las Vegas Review-Journal, and has now begun suing on behalf of Denver-based MediaNews Group, which owns the San Jose Mercury News, the Denver Post and about two dozen other outlets.
Righthaven’s initial lawsuit on behalf of the Denver Post, first reported by the Las Vegas Sun, came three weeks after the paper published online a “notice to readers about Denver Post copyright protections.” The five-paragraph notice said the newspaper’s work “is illegally reproduced everyday on websites across the country.” The company wrote it was acceptable for blogs to “reproduce no more than a headline and up to a couple of paragraphs or summary of the story.”
MediaNews chief Dean Singleton, also chairman of the Associated Press, did not immediately respond for comment. Sara Glines, a MediaNews vice president, likewise did not return a telephone call.
Steve Gibson, Righthaven’s chief executive, said in a brief telephone interview that “We have a substantial number of clients and business relationships that you’ll be seeing additional activity with.” He said he believes his business model will help the media capitalize on their content.
Its suit on behalf of MediaNews targets lowcountry912.com, a blog on national and local politics. The site did not immediately respond for comment. The blog is accused of running (.pdf) an entire Denver Post column in September, titled “Rosen: A Letter to the Tea Partyers.”
In some of its previous lawsuits, Righthaven sued over the reposting of a few paragraphs from a news article, even when the post was done by a user on a discussion board. Righthaven changed the tactic after suffering a courtroom defeat in a Review-Journal lawsuit last month.
Righthaven has settled more than 70 of its cases out of court. Terms have not been not made public.
Photo: Righthavenlawsuits.com
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