'Moribund' Righthaven Defeated Again; Recap on Important Democratic Underground Case

Problems Pile Up for Righthaven with New Ruling

Legal problems are snowballing for Las Vegas copyright lawsuit filer Righthaven LLC, with a judge on Wednesday entering yet another judgment against the firm.
In Righthaven’s 2010 lawsuit against the Democratic Underground political website, U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt in Las Vegas granted a motion by the Democratic Underground that final judgment be entered against Righthaven.

Why was Righthaven's lawsuit against the Democratic Underground so significant?

• Attorneys for the defendant, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, brought to light the Strategic Alliance Agreement establishing Righthaven's lack of standing to sue.
• Through these actions, the term "sham copyright assignment" was born.
• Chief U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt then threw out the case against the Democratic Underground and fined Righthaven $5,000 for misleading the court.
• Later, in a Democratic Underground counterclaim filed against Stephens Media, the media group admitted that the defendant's use of the material was fair use. 
• On Wednesday, Judge Hunt found that his June dismissal of the case "was a dismissal on the merits" and granted a dismissal "with prejudice."

The Democratic Underground now seeks to recover the legal fees it racked up defending itself.

See: VEGAS INC article in full