Wounded Copyright Troll Still Alive and Kicking 44
Hugh Pickens writes "Steve Green writes that even as defendants who defeated Righthaven in court and won their attorney's fees complain they haven't been paid a total of $216,000 and try to seize Righthaven assets, the copyright troll proved that it is alive and kicking by filing a brief that District Judge James Mahan in Las Vegas was wrong to find an Oregon nonprofit was protected by fair use in posting an entire R-J story on the relationship between immigrants and Las Vegas police. A key factor in Mahan's decision was that the defendant, the Center for Intercultural Organizing in Portland, couldn't harm the market for a copyright to the story Righthaven obtained for lawsuit purposes from Stephens Media. Mahan also 'found that because the work was a news article, the totality of its content was informational and permissible for productive use by others,' Righthaven's outside attorney Shawn Mangano wrote in his brief that 'in reaching this erroneous conclusion, the district court failed to accord any degree of creative effort to the work (story) whatsoever.' In a second appeals brief, Mangano appeared to face an uphill challenge in arguing that Righthaven had standing to sue or should have been allowed to sue after amending its Stephens Media lawsuit contract to fix defects — assertions rejected so far by six Nevada judges. The defendants in the appeals have not yet filed their briefs, and it's likely to be months before the appeals court hears arguments on the cases."
Solution (Score:2, Flamebait)
Re: (Score:2)
Nah - you'd get done by the local feudal Lord or King for troll harvesting. Fireball is the way to go.
Re:Solution (Score:5, Funny)
Appropriate the internal organs of righthaven lawyers whenever they show up in court.
That is just an offal idea...
Re:Solution (Score:5, Funny)
Just don't go for the spine, you won't find any.
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If you're feeling so inclined, you could provide the lawyers with a knife. As long as it's blunt.
What was that creepy-fun film I saw a while ago ... ? 127 Hours [wikipedia.org].
Picture the same general situation, but with much less appealing character
Shewtin's too good for 'em. (Score:1)
The Righthaven jerks do not even own the copyright. They have no standing whatsoever. How are they getting away with this without sanctions? I really want to know why. There really isn't any dispute about who owns the copyrights.
The time when taking the vexatious plaintiffs out to the desert and staking them down next to a fire-ant hill is acceptable keeps getting closer every day.
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BMO
Re:Shewtin's too good for 'em. (Score:5, Insightful)
Judges used to be lawyers. So you are seeing a part of the Good-ol-boy network in action.
It's how cops that are dirty or evil get protected by other cops.
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Don't forget how politicians enter into the mix - take a look at how many US politicians started out as lawyers.
Then again, anyone from an honest profession can't afford to spend the amount of money it takes to run these days.
Re:Shewtin's too good for 'em. (Score:4, Insightful)
Huh? Righthaven was ruled against, by multiple judges. They missed several deadlines to pay the fees, and US Marshals were ordered to seize their property (not sure how that turned out). To be honest, I'm not even sure how or why they can still file briefs.
If anything, Righthaven is an example of the legal system actually working more or less as it should: frivolous lawsuits get thrown out and the defendants get paid their legal fees. Or will, if Righthaven ever actually obeys the law.
Of course it's still alive (Score:1)
Everyone knows the only way to kill a troll is either acid or fire. Excuse me while I get the gasoline and matches.
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As such you just need to voimit on either the troll or the stick you're planning to beat it with. And given the general repulsiveness of righthaven this should happen even if you're not planning on doing so.
so can i break the GPL and claim fair use? (Score:1)
after all, the entire legal foundation of the GPL is based on the enforcability of copyright law.
Re: (Score:2)
No you cannot, Dan Wallace. You lost and therefore cemented the issue forever. Deal with it.
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BMO
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You can claim anything you like. Whether it stands up in court is a different matter though.
SCO Redux (Score:5, Insightful)
How many of you feel we're still going to be hearing about the ghost of Wronghaven for years to come?
Re:SCO Redux (Score:5, Insightful)
If this is SCO redux and we're going to hear about this for 7 more years, I suppose we should shoot them now.
I give you the most censored routine in history.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyPFQKpRnd0 [youtube.com]
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BMO
Did I drop that? (Score:5, Funny)
This is why zombie lawyers are the most feared D&D monsters. There is always something you should have been keeping in your inventory to kill them but didn't.
Re: (Score:2)
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are they like green slime? only fire will do?
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If your the rogue, and your warrior, mage, and cleric are dead, have beaten the green slime to 1 health, then suddenly realize you dropped that fire whip scroll because it was only worth 3 coins, yes. :)
Don't confuse delaying making the payment (Score:5, Insightful)
With a legitimate argument. Sure they are going to appeal. Because they are out of business if they don't.
They think they still have assets worth suing for? (Score:2)
Seize those too.
Give 'em some room (Score:2)
You don't want to stand near a dinosaur that's sinking in the tar pit, it tends to lash out.
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To do the car analogy for those that need it, it's like arguing that Volvo should update the in-car computer for their cars when you don't even own a Volvo.
Not exactly, everyone's entitled to have an opinion on what Volvo should do to their cars' computers (in general) whether they own one or not.
It's more like demanding that Volvo update the computer on *your* Volvo when you don't even own a Volvo (though perhaps that was what you meant anyway?!)
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well it seems the problem was that they bought copyrights to a story that has no market besides them, so someone copying the article isn't in fact hurting their market.
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well it seems the problem was that they bought copyrights to a story that has no market besides them
No, that's not what happened. Righthaven bought the _right to sue for copyright infringement_. And several judges told them, completely logical, that if you don't own the copyright, then you have no standing to sue, and it doesn't matter if the copyright holder sells you the right to sue.
Let's say you go to Avis and pay them money to rent a car for two weeks. So for two weeks you have the right to drive their car. Except if you lose your driving license. In that case you don't have the right to drive the
Just Surrender Already (Score:2)
Creative effort in news? (Score:1)
What is the point of copyright? (Score:2)
I get that if someone copies a work with no revenue, they cannot be sued for lost revenue. But if copyright is owned by the copyright owner, and is their right to not allow copying, then I do not understand how someone who obviously copied something can still be innocent. They would be guilty, but not liable for damages. They should at most have to pay for the plaintiff's legal fees if being taken to court is what it took.
In the case of film and music there are huge disproportionate criminal fines in place,
fire? (Score:2)
it's been decades since i played any sort of D&D games but don't you need fire to stop trolls regenerating?