Copyright jackal Righthaven sues young blogger
p2pnet view P2P | Freedom:- Being a citizen journalist is getting really scary, with copyright trolls lurking in the dark.
One of the worst is the wrongly named Righthaven, run by online jackal Steve Gibson.
“I’ve been a political journalist and blogger for over a year”, says Brian Hill (right) from Mayodan, North Carolina, in an email.
Brian 20, is one of Gibson’s latest victims.
He runs USWGO Alternative News. a non-profit site “where I write my own articles and mirror others articles with links to the source (Sometimes include pictures) to educate people that certain political agendas are going on but that got me sued this time”, he says.
He carried a Denver Post picture of a Transportation Security Administration guy groping — and we do mean groping — a passenger.
The pic makes it look as though the agent is searching for buried treasure.
“A Transportation Security Administration agent performs an enhanced pat down on a commuter at a security area at Denver International Airport in Denver, CO, November 17, 2010″, says the caption, attributing the photo to Craig F. Walker/ The Denver Post.
But neither one is going after Brian, who says he’s “mildly autistic”.
Rather, lowlife Gibson got his hands on the copyright and in one of the most egregious copyright troll cases yet, is suing Brian, who only found out about the suit when he was contacted by a reporter.
“Then I searched up my name and righthaven and found a court docket/filing verifying that this lawsuit against me over the TSA photo is real”, he told me.
Brian has posted the document on scribd. In it, Gibson says he could be “irreparably harmed”, demanding damages and costs.
Meanwhile, “Number of copyright Infringement Lawsuits Filed by Righthaven, as of February 2, 231 says Righthaven Lawsuits, going on:
Estimated Total Money Settlements Righthaven’s Efforts Have Earned to Date: $318,500 (based on 91 cases closed as of January 25, 2011 and an educated guesstimate of an average of $3,500 settled per case)”
Righthaven LLC “is owned 50/50 by two limited liability companies”, says Righthaven Lawsuits, adding >>>
The first is Net Sortie Systems, LLC, which is owned by Las Vegas attorney Steven Gibson (right) – the Nevada attorney who is behind all of the lawsuits filed by Righthaven. The second is SI Content Monitor LLC, which is owned by family members of investment banking billionaire Warren Stephens whose investments include Stephens Media, LLC which owns the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
While Righthaven owes its origins to Stephens Media, Righthaven recently picked up another media company client interested in pursuing the same type of copyright enforcement efforts on its behalf — WEHCO Media (which owns several weekly and daily publications including the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and Chattanooga Times Free Press, but also has a partnership with Stephens Media regarding WEHCO’s Northwest Arkansas publications). News coverage of Righthaven’s new “client” here, here, here, and here.
While no lawsuits have yet been filed by Righthaven on behalf of WEHCO Media, a third media company – Media News Group – is also using Righthaven’s “services” – as reflected by numerous copyright infringement lawsuits that have been filed by Righthaven in the Colorado over material appearing in the Denver Post, which is owned by Media News Group. News coverage of Righthaven’s Colorado “client” can be found here and here (see also Denver Posts’ “Notice to readers about Denver Post copyright protections” on November 14, 2010).
Will Gibson get away with this legal extortion? Or will someone, somewhere, pick up the case for Brian and make sure Gibson gets what he deserves?
Stay tuned.
online jackal – Righthaven copyright jackal sues Canadians, October 25, 2010
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
World War III will be a global information war with no division between civilian & military participation ~ Marshall McLuhan
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February 4th, 2011 at 11:37 am
*shakes head*
February 4th, 2011 at 11:53 am
Isn’t that CSI LV’s Stokes? Looks a lot like him.
On a more serious note, Gibson picks the little folk who don’t have the financial resources to say “Fuck Off.” Which shows how much of a coward he is!
February 4th, 2011 at 12:13 pm
If the US’s legal system is any good, we should be seeing this guy going the way of Andrew Crossley in no time.
~Fingers crossed…
February 4th, 2011 at 12:42 pm
They have to put the crew of “Leverage” on this case.
February 4th, 2011 at 12:43 pm
” If the US’s legal system is any good ”
You’re joking , right ? ( lives in US )
February 5th, 2011 at 1:24 am
@onman & Dreddsnik:
It’s not whether the US legal system is any good. It’s whether it’s similar, and it’s not. The healthcare systems in the two countries are radically different. Most Americans seem to view the British model as Socialist. In America, things tend to be every man for himself, and the court system is no different.
The legal systems of the UK have little by way of statutory or punitive damages. They’re about putting right a wrong, not making a profit. Andrew Crossley is an incompetent solicitor. Although, were he not, the judge would have been keenly aware of any inequality of arms. Very few times have I seen US judges attempt to level the playing field, showing irritation the the behaviour of the plaintiffs, even then they appear to be very limited in what they can do. Ironically, the most prominent instances of large awards of damages are the one the Americans don’t like. That’s the liable awards, where cases aren’t usually pursued for financial gain, but to stifle free speech. In file-sharing cases there’s no clear legal basis for asking for damages beyond a single retail copy of the work. That’s somewhat better than trying to argue that truly obscene awards are unconstitutional.
What appear as weaknesses that will fail to stop Gibson can other times be strengths. Punitive damages, along side class actions, can keep businesses in check in a way that cannot happen in the UK.
February 8th, 2011 at 4:17 am
Heres the update that I have added to federaljack since I decided to close my sites scripts and just have one page.
I have been summoned to goto court.
http://www.federaljack.com/?p=19875