Posted on 09/28/2011 3:14:34 PM PDT by george76
In what is becoming a well-settled pattern, Righthaven again finds itself on the losing end of a motion, with its case thrown out and owing the defendant – here, Leland Wolf, proprietor of the It Makes Sense Blog – costs and attorneys' fees for bringing a baseless copyright case. The lawsuit, Righthaven v. Wolf, is also notable for being the leading case among more than 50 that were filed in Colorado. Pending a motion to dismiss, the Colorado court stayed the remaining cases. With this ruling, the court has hopefully rung the death knell for the other remaining live cases in that district (joining the Nevada cases that have also been dismissed.)
Some background: In March, Righthaven sued Mr. Wolf for alleging infringing a Denver Post photograph titled “TSA Agent performs enhanced pat-downs," by virtue of a parody of the photo posted on his blog. Mr. Wolf moved to dismiss the case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction; EFF filed an amicus brief supporting that motion, explaining that Righthaven lacks ownership of any exclusive right granted under Section 106 of the Copyright Act
...
We are pleased that the Court refused to allow Righthaven to proceed with a lawsuit based on a copyright that it never owned and never had any plans to exploit
(Excerpt) Read more at eff.org ...
Cue Nelson Muntz...
I am glad they are getting their butts handed to them, but, it is too bad for the people who have settled already. They can’t back out of their agreements.
Without a RELEASE from TSA and the agent and the private individual this picture had no copyright valid for commercial use.
Obviously the Righthaven operation put that picture into play as a commercial venture.
End of story.
It's a bit more complex in the way the lawyers handled it, but Righthaven not only didn't have a valid copyright, the people they purchaed the rights from didn't have a valid copyright either, and that individual being patted down is probably owed damages for the failure to get his release.
Just like to remind folks that I made predictions about which way Righthaven cases were going the second I saw that photo!
Those predictions jsut came true.
A good lawyer can get you out of any agreement, particularly one involving FRAUDULENT MISREPRESENTATION.
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