The Cockroaches err, Righthaven, Gets Slapped Down Again

The cockroach infested lawy firm of Righthaven was slapped down in federal Court yesterday when a Federal judge, James Mahan, threw out a copy right infringement case in which Righthaven sued a non-profit, Center For Intercultural Organizing for copying an entire LVRJ article and posting it on their web site. The judge slapped down tthe LVRJ and Righthaven through out the dismissal order.
From the judge's ruling:
The court finds that the defendant’s use of the copyrighted article in this case constitutes fair
use as a matter of law. The article has been removed from its original context; it is no longer owned
by a newspaper; and it has been assigned to a company that uses the copyright exclusively to file
infringement lawsuits. Plaintiff’s litigation strategy has a chilling effect on potential fair uses of
Righthaven-owned articles, diminishes public access to the facts contained therein, and does nothing
to advance the Copyright Act’s purpose of promoting artistic creation.
Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that, in the case of Righthaven
LLC v. Center For Intercultural Organizing et al. (2:10-cv-01322-JCM -LRL), summary judgment
is granted in favor of the defendants;
http://media.lasvegassun.com/media/pdfs/2011/04/22/judgeorder.pdf
I am sure this is not the end of this trial. Righthaven will appeal because they have to. If Righthaven loses this case, then they have lost their business model- suing bloggers over copyright infringement. In addition, I am sure, the non-profit will ask Righthaven to pay it's attorney's fees and other costs, as well.
It is also very rare for a defendant to win a summary judgement so early in a case. There was no trial, no discovery- just a couple of legal briefs exchanged. So, the judge in this case, Mahan, had to have been underwhelmed with the cases Righthaven have been bringing.
Righthaven has sunk so low that their web site (http://righthaven.com/) was taken away by GoDaddy now there is no web site for Righthaven.
Righthaven is like your school's bully. They talk tough, thump their chests but in the end, when someone fights back, they really turn out to be a bunch of losers.
I think it is safe to say, Righthaven is going to be out of business very soon. Watch out Las Vegas Review Journal, you might be next.