Defense: 'Rights of Reversion' and Champerty Explained

Attorneys Attack Review-Journal Copyright Suit Arrangement

"All of the rights Stephens Media assigns to Righthaven are 'subject to the assignor’s rights of reversion,' which are not specified anywhere in the assignment. This raises serious questions about what rights Righthaven actually has to sue (the Vote for the Worst) defendants and those similarly situated, as it could be paying Stephens Media for the bare right to sue for copyright infringement, with those rights reverting back to Stephens Media once Righthaven has recovered a settlement or judgment from the affected defendants. In fact, the wording of the purported transfer seems to indicate that the sole purpose of assigning the copyrights is to give Righthaven technical legal standing to pursue infringements on rights that, in all actuality, still belong to Stephens Media. Such arrangements are prohibited as champertous under Nevada law," the attorneys [Lewis and Roca] wrote.

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