May 2011 Righthaven Victims

Victim count: May (9), April (2), March (25), February (10) and January (34).

05/06/11	John Kirk - (Dismissed)	johnjohnsaidit.com
05/06/11	Neil G. Brommell and Holly L. Brewer	tvclubhouse.com
05/06/11	Bob Sieber - (Dismissed)	atomicbobs.com
05/05/11	Computer Services One LLC, Norman Edwards - (Dismissed)	floridasteaks.com
05/05/11	Extreme DUI and Johannes Garrido	extremedui.net
05/05/11	Affordable Hunting Trips, Gunner's Alley LLC, Bradford Justus - (Dismissed)	affordable-hunting-trips.com
05/05/11	Law Med Consulting LLC, Law Med Blog and Greg Stocks	lawmedconsultant.com
05/05/11	Alan Gray, Newsblaze LLC	newsblaze.com
05/05/11	Jane Smith, Subliminalselfhypnosis.com -(Dismissed)	subliminalselfhypnosis.com

It must be noted that this month "might" mark a turning point for Righthaven in that they may have started targeting their "no warning" lawsuits at websites that fall on the edges or outside of fair use.

Righthaven Becoming Defiant, Ups the Anti on Demands

Righthaven is upping the anti by adding to its list of demands. Righthaven has demanded the domain names of those it has sued and a Nevada Federal Judge has already rejected that demand. Instead of complying or at least challenging the judges ruling they are now brazenly defying the judge by not only demanding domain names but in their latest lawsuit they are demanding every domain name the defendant may possess as well as any computers, hardware and software used in the alleged infringement.

Correction: Righthaven is not asking for all domains owned by the defendant but..

"Order the surrender to Righthaven of all hardware, software, electronic media and domains, including the Domain used to store, disseminate and display the unauthorized versions of any and all copyrighted works as provided for under 17 U.S.C. § 505(b) and/or as authorized by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 64"

Which is interesting because 17 U.S.C rule 505 does not have a section b, and even rule 505 mainly deals with attorney's fees.

See: Response from EFF

EFF Releases Important Commentary About Friday's Crucial Discoveries

Why Righthaven’s Copyright Assignment Is A Sham – And Why It Matters
Commentary by Kurt Opsahl

For several weeks EFF and co-counsel Fenwick & West have been trying to persuade a federal district court to unseal a critical document Stephens Media produced in Righthaven v. Democratic Underground. The document, the Strategic Alliance Agreement between Righthaven and Stephens Media (publisher of the Las Vegas Review-Journal), and our accompanying supplemental brief were unsealed on Friday.

See: Article in full

More Bad News for Righthaven: Domain Name Claim Dismissed in DiBiase Case
Legal Analysis by Corynne McSherry

Nevada federal judge Roger Hunt was busy last week. In addition to his widely reported decision in Righthaven v. Democratic Underground to unseal Righthaven LLC’s business agreement with publisher Stephen Media – an agreement that shows Righthaven's claim of copyright ownership is a sham – Judge Hunt also granted Tad DiBiase’s motion to dismiss Righthaven’s request to seize his domain name. As the judge noted, there simply is no legal basis for Righthaven’s threat to seize domain names as a remedy for copyright infringment.

See: Article in full

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Since Friday, two Righthaven victims have filed for dismissals. Many more may be following suit. For examples of these dismissal filings, please click here.

Judge Rejects Righthaven Website Domain Demand

Judge Strikes Righthaven Website Domain Demand

Things went from bad to worse on Friday for Las Vegas copyright enforcement company Righthaven LLC when a judge rejected Righthaven’s standard copyright infringement lawsuit demand that defendants forfeit their website domain names to Righthaven.
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Hunt’s ruling on those two issues came in a Righthaven lawsuit against former federal prosecutor Thomas DiBiase, who has a website covering “no body” murder investigations nationwide...

See: Article in full

See: Commentary from the Electronic Frontier Foundation

Talk about a killer Friday for Righthaven!