Judge Doubts Righthaven's Right to Sue; Orders Righthaven to Show Cause (Again)

Judge Doubtful of Righthaven’s Right to Sue Over R-J Material

U.S. District Judge James Mahan in Thursday's order to show cause:

"Stephens Media has not assigned to Righthaven one of the (Copyright Act’s) exclusive rights in the copyrights Righthaven purports to own, as would be required for Righthaven to validly allege an infringement claim on those copyrights."
--snip--
"This court believes that the issue should be addressed at the outset of Righthaven litigation, as it goes to the plaintiff’s standing to bring a copyright infringement claim at all. Thus, in the interest of judicial economy, the court issues this order to show cause why the case should not be dismissed for plaintiff’s lack of beneficial ownership of the copyright, and, therefore, lack of standing to sue," Mahan wrote.

See: Article in full

The case involves Pahrump website operator Michael Scaccia who is representing himself pro se. Also noted in the article is Mahan's interest in Righthaven. Marc Randazza of the Randazza Legal Group is quoted, "Judge Mahan's curiosity about the Strategic Alliance Agreement is matched only by our own." Eric Goldman, associate professor at Santa Clara University's law school, chimes in too.