Posted on 08/05/2010 3:39:54 PM PDT by mnehring
Copyright enforcement outfit Righthaven has filed some questionable lawsuits in the past, but really outdid itself in a case against Anthony Curtis, publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor.
That lawsuit, one of several filed on Friday, alleges that Curtis infringed copyright by reposting an article from the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Problem is, that article was itself based on an annual survey conducted by Curtis of ticket prices for entertainment shows.
Yes, Curtis went to the trouble of fielding a survey and then shared his findings with the newspaper, only to find himself sued for posting portions of the ensuing article on his own blog.
Just for added irony, the original Las Vegas Review-Journal piece about the survey described Curtis's annual undertaking as a "thankless task." "Once a year, Curtis delves into the thankless task of trying to pull an average ticket price," the April 22 article stated.
(Excerpt) Read more at mediapost.com ...
ping
Too funny.
Well, it wasn’t his material, so I understand. It is against the law for me to publish loads of my very own, original research. For other reasons...
Such are the baroque curlicues of law as we know it.
Tables of information, such as what Curtis produced, can’t be covered by a copyright monopoly; only the words and graphics or other physically lasting symbols used to express it or talk about it can have that. Now Curtis could certainly keep his data a trade secret with nondisclosure or limited-disclosure agreements in order to protect it, but he didn’t. Since he lifted the words the paper used to talk about it, he is arguably busted, but if it went to the mat (which would be at huge expense to both parties, which is why this rarely happens) anything could happen.
I still say shame on the paper for asking Curtis for more than an apology and removal of the “plagiarized” material. Not all that is legal, is honorable.
Yeah... we’d hate for all your research of how to turn a Mentos/Diet Coke bomb into a military-grade weapon to fall into the hands of the Iranians or North Koreans.
The simple truth of the matter is that Righthaven CEO Steven Gibson is a scumbag, and he’s engaged in extortion. Too bad some law enforcement agency doesn’t slap him with a RICO suit.
Pingaling
This is what we were talking about.
Was that sarcasm? If not, that’s kind of odd that you would default to the assumption that I’m some sort of crackpot.
I wasn’t calling you a crackpot. It’s a commentary on what sorts of things tend to be secretly researched these days... especially by the government and extra especially for military applications.
Ping - thought you’d find this interesting......
Not so much “interesting” as disgusting! Somebody need to bring this scumbag down.....
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