First Defendant to Win Dismissal: Michael Nelson, Real Estate Agent

Righthaven Defendant Wins First Lawsuit Dismissal Motion

The "housing sale odds" story that Righthaven obtained a copyright for and sued over consisted of 30 sentences, but Nelson reproduced "only" the first eight sentences, Hicks wrote in his ruling that was filed Tuesday.
"The court finds that this use weighs in favor of a fair use of the copyrighted material," Hicks wrote in his ruling, citing case law stating "copying only as much as necessary in a greater work (story) to provide relevant factual information weighs in favor of fair use."
As to whether the online posting affected the potential market for the Review-Journal story, Hicks wrote: "Nelson’s use of the copyrighted material is likely to have little to no effect on the market for the copyrighted news article...

See: Article in full | View: Dismissal ruling

The Bureau of National Affairs (BNA), who recently published an article critical of Righthaven's practices, is also noted in the article.