9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Dismisses Righthaven Case That Won Key Fair Use Ruling

Court Tosses Righthaven Fair Use Appeal

The dismissal was requested by the nonprofit Center for Intercultural Organizing (CIO) in Portland, Ore., which won a key fair-use ruling last year against Righthaven.
The dismissal was granted Wednesday by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which cited case law that appeared to back arguments by the CIO that Righthaven could no longer participate in the case since creditors had seized the copyrights it sues over. In layman’s terms, the CIO argued Righthaven no longer had a dog in the fight so the fight was over.

Recall that back in January, Google filed a friend of the court brief in this case concerning the Center for Intercultural Organizing (CIO), which involved the posting of an entire 33-paragraph R-J story without authorization. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the Digital Media Law Project, Public Knowledge and several law professors joined together and filed a friend of the court brief as well.

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