Too Busy to Meet Terms: Righthaven Files for Extension to Comply with July 14 Order

Righthaven appears too busy to comply with Judge Hunt's recent July 14 ruling, specifically with Local Rule 7.1-1, which requires the disclosure of interested parties in all actions. This includes providing each party with a copy of Judge Hunt's June 14, order, the transcript from the July 14 hearing, a copy of any order from the July 14 hearing to all parties involving Stephens Media and a copy of the Strategic Alliance Agreement (SAA). The application for extension requests 10 additional days.

Righthaven’s counsel has diligently investigated the number and nature of Righthaven’s pending cases concerning Stephens Media. Counsel has identified seventy-eight (78) cases that appear to fall within the Court’s Order. Counsel’s investigation has further revealed that service of process has not been made in a significant number of these cases. Counsel’s investigation has been extremely time consuming and has also been impacted by numerous pending responses dates in a significant number of Righthaven and non-Righthaven matters. In short, performing the degree of due diligence required vastly exceed the amount of time counsel anticipated dedicating to this portion of complying with the Court’s Order.

See: Application for Extension in full

In part 6, the document adds, "As of now, counsel still is investigating how to provide non-served parties with the materials required under the Order." In the past, Righthaven has wrongly served, not served on time or not served defendants at all. As stated not long ago by observer Eric Goldman, "I don't know if it's their staff turnover, general incompetence or something else, but Righthaven has made a surprisingly high number of unforced errors for a company whose sole business is litigation."