Intellectual Property Law Expert Weighs In: 'Righthaven's Entire Enterprise is on the Ropes'

Eric Goldman, an intellectual property law expert and Righthaven critic, comments on the ruling by Chief U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt in a blog post today. Among other aspects, Goldman addresses the judge's severe criticisms of Righthaven, such as the rejection of Righthaven's basic substantive argument as "flagrantly false—to the point that the claim is disingenuous, if not outright deceitful." Given the tenor of the opinion, Goldman writes, "it seems like a sanctions order is inevitable."

Righthaven Benchslapped in Ruling Saying It Lacks Standing--Righthaven v. Democratic Underground
--snip--
In addition to the adverse substantive ruling, the judge criticized Righthaven unusually harshly in this opinion. The "high"lights:

• the judge rejects Righthaven's basic substantive argument as "flagrantly false—to the point that the claim is disingenuous, if not outright deceitful."
• the judge emphatically rejects Righthaven's attempt to argue that other judges had already upheld the copyright assignment, saying that "at best, this argument is disingenuous." Righthaven took the very aggressive position of citing one of the judge's earlier rulings back to him--and he seemed pretty angry that Righthaven sandbagged him in the prior ruling and then tried to estop him.
• the judge summarizes the overall ruling by saying "the Court believes that Righthaven has made multiple inaccurate and likely dishonest statements to the Court."
• the judge then goes on to lambaste Righthaven for not identifying Stephens Media as an interested party in the lawsuit, calling that omission "brazen" and "egregious."

See: Article in full

Eric Goldman is an associate professor at California's Santa Clara University School of Law and director of its High Tech Law Institute.