Tech | February 05, 2011 | 41 comments

Copyright jackal Righthaven sues young blogger

source: http://www.p2pnet.net/story/48475

Image
uswgo_master
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 Newsn (ref: http://uswgo.com/). 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.
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41 comments // Copyright jackal Righthaven sues young blogger

  • arbil333
  • npacione
    • +1
      npacione  
    • Image

    • I haven't had an encounter with Righthaven personally, but I will relate one of my own copyright infringement horror stories. I just caught a blogger by the name of Martin Jolicoeur going around stealing my photographs and doing these damned videos that smeared me with them.

      I am credited for most of the photos I for my projects as an author or as an editor, then this bastard went around posting the pdfs of my lulu publications on a site called dropbox.com. I caught him posting my unfinished novella, two of my magazine issues, two of my anthologies and a book that was already pirated in it's first incarnation. Then two novellas that were not available yet.

      I had copyright trolls like The Rusty Nail, ExposeTheTard, AutoAim_CFG, and a ew others go around stealing my articles when I was published with Associated Content.com. They would go around stealing these articles then also pass arou the pirated memoir to make sure I would never get a sale from it. I know this might be too outrageous to relate especially when Martin Jolicoeur not only posted these titles without permission but also impersonated an aspirating model from my area.

      I have a blog entry about this on my blurty based weblog, and then one with insanejournal.com how they collectively act like a wolfpack. The copyright trolls are the worst when they have blogspots or wordpress blogs; they will hide behind the "fair use" argument just to post something without permission. I beca a copyright activist in 2004 but I became more so involved with this. I can see both sides of the argument here, but I don't have enough information about Righthaven myself so I can't fully chim in here.

      But the entire situation is something I can really relate to because Martin Jolicoeur went around stealing my work in ways that one can catch him in the process of doing. He actually impersonated me on facebook.com and also did a smear site guised as a fan page to violate my intellectual properties.

      This person actually came on here using my photograph and a similar name as my own -- he was doing something you guys coined as "puppetry." Copyright trolls also might engage in bullying or impersonating another person to gain one's trust as what he did when he impersonated a model. I am not going to reveal who she is here, and not mentioning the model's name to protect her identity.

      Jolicoeur had gone out of his way to steal my idenity on another site and manged to convince 25 of my close friends and extended family into thinking that he was me. These are the ones who go around with blogs using that damned copyleft symbol. They have that one on their blog, meaning they don't have respect for copyrighted material.

      These people are like you said of them, they are a citizen journalist's worst nightmare to say the least. This is a dangerous world for this kind of journalist and I was acting on a hunch to find out if that cellphone number was his. When I saw he was trying to file a counternofication from copyright infringement, he saw his one channel on youtube.com become terminated for repeated flagging to have a video taken down. He did the thing known as repeat copyright infringment and went and created a smear blog using one of my other site screen names.

      The "fair use" argument is abused by copyright trolls and they would post the fair use statement on all their blogs just to act under that to post someone's photograph or blog word for word. In my career as an author, I had to file at least 140 different DMCA notices on these copyright trolls. One of them successfully got a counternotification posted and got the infringing post reinstated.

      The other went and posted my article on AuthorsDen.com posted on his blog word for word then using the Rickolas Fakione byline (the two things I used when addressing an impersonator. I lured him to here to get him nailed for puppetry. He claims I am too "illiterate" and "retarded" to understand why he's doing what he's doing.)

      His damning words as they're said here, "You might be asking 'Why?' and the reason I am doing this is because I was rather fond of that youtube.com channel that you ahd gotten terminated on me."

    • 1 year ago
  • ApeFace
    • +1
      ApeFace  

    • Layers don't produce anything they only take. This is what is wrong with our society. We have 5 times more lawyers than we do engineers.

    • 1 year ago
  • ineedaname777777
  • bailey78
  • ineedaname777777
    • +1
      ineedaname777777  

    • The credit card company did something similar to my wife, and she fought the case and won, then later they appealed and we could not appeal the judgement so I drove the 2 hours to his office ...I don't think I can say the rest but he got something special!

    • 1 year ago
  • bailey78
  • ineedaname777777
  • ThatCrazyLibertarian
  • Saladin
    • +2
      Saladin  
    • ThatCrazyLibertarian:

      Copyright goons hate fair use, they violate its mandates whenever they can.

      So many DMCA's have been filed when the content was in fair use it's ridiculous. But it's too hard to fight it, even when you're in the right, so they always have the upper hand.

    • 1 year ago
  • ThatCrazyLibertarian
  • dannym2
    • +1
      dannym2  
    • ThatCrazyLibertarian:

      whats the big deal,all he has to do is,say he is sorry,let know that it was his youth,that got in the way of his judgment,and then just say I will never do it again. that should do it.It has been working for people in Washinton,for a long time now!!

    • 1 year ago
  • Saladin
  • dannym2
  • csmonut
    • +3
      csmonut  

    • The United States has one third of the world's population, but 72% of the world's lawyers. (picture of me gagging)
      Copyright laws need serious reform, no doubt about it. Until someone comes along and drags these people to the US Supreme Court, or enough complaints are filed with the Bar Association (assuming the court or bar is not bought and paid for...uhhh...might be kind of hard to tell) there will be no stop to dishonest lawyers and their ilk.

    • 1 year ago
  • uswgo_master
  • ArchDruid
  • csmonut
    • +2
      csmonut  
    • ArchDruid:

      World population, about 6.9 billion. US population about 308 million does not equal one third of world population. (me with red face)
      But we still have better than two thirds of the world's lawyers.

    • 1 year ago
  • ineedaname777777
  • simplecj
    • +6
      simplecj  

    • Can we get a Current staff member to weigh in on this??? How is Current working to ensure it's users aren't sued for participating in the primary function of the site?

    • 1 year ago
  • uswgo_master
  • GENERALNATTY
    • +3
      GENERALNATTY  
    • uswgo_master:

      yeah thats best , because 90 % of bloggers dont know who or what righthaven is and can easily fall in the trap , besides if righthaven sues the the blogger, current will be named in the lawsuit , so its in there best interest as well.

    • 1 year ago
  • uswgo_master
  • GENERALNATTY
    • +3
      GENERALNATTY  

    • This almost happened to me on a ning site when i posted a story about david carradine's passing , i did the same thing posted a link to the original story but the thai-indian news got butthurt and contacted ning threatening legal action to ning and myself , this has always been a danger on the internet.

      Even those people on twitter posting quotes as their own without naming the original source could get targeted if someone gets butthurt or just wants a easy buck.

    • 1 year ago
  • uswgo_master
    • +1
      uswgo_master  
    • GENERALNATTY:

      I'm so sorry this happened to you. You don't even have to copy other peoples images to get sued. You could have a article written about you then you try to brag on google groups then next thing is you could get sued for infringement if you happen to pick a bad newspaper.

    • 1 year ago
  • GENERALNATTY
    • +2
      GENERALNATTY  
    • uswgo_master:

      people can be assholes , it just makes the whole process slower having to ask for permission and if you do get it , via email or whatever you pretty much have to hold on to that e-document forever , just incase somebody tries something.

    • 1 year ago
  • uswgo_master
  • simplecj
    • +3
      simplecj  

    • So wait... what does this mean for Current, where users commonly copy pictures and text from other sources? Most of the time links to the source are provided, but is that still technically a copyright violation?

    • 1 year ago
  • uswgo_master
    • +4
      uswgo_master  
    • simplecj:

      yes this will be the starting of the end of Google Groups, Current.com, posting news excerpts on forums, blogs will go down one by one, and will lead to a more restricted and controlled Internet system since many poor and average joe bloggers can't afford to pay settlements and court fees for their court trials.

    • 1 year ago
  • GENERALNATTY
    • +1
      GENERALNATTY  
    • simplecj:

      its not the end of the world most major news sources have a "share" button or something to allow you to share the story on blogs or social networks , so that pretty much counts as permission , its the smaller less known news sources you have to be more careful about.

    • 1 year ago
  • AJILIVIZION
    • +1
      AJILIVIZION  
    • uswgo_master:

      Actually I would say the exact opposite of this being the end of online users posting material. I think everyone should be as reckless with the copyright use as they feel the need to. Overwhelm the legal system with tons of cases, which will lead to corporations and other institutions to buckle to the desires of people. The same goes for victimless-crimes like marijuana cases. People should not give in to a broken system just because the laws are there. They should stand up to the abuse of power. You need to consider where were headed. Nation-state governments are losing control on the internet. The internet should always be a place for everyone to feel free to mix and mash media, express themselves however they choose, rather then hold back on their creativity all because of some broken bureaucratic b.s. Copyright will have to evolve in the very near future.

    • 1 year ago
  • postlapsaria
    • -5
      postlapsaria  

    • it's copywritten. you may not like the fact that you have to pay for the right, but you do.

      just because you feel wronged doesn't make it legal all of a sudden, sorry you got sued, but it isn't undeserved.

    • 1 year ago
  • Freedom_Is_Popular
    • +2
      Freedom_Is_Popular  
    • postlapsaria:

      you don't understand copyright then cause your not a damn lawyer.

      Anything can be copyrighted even things you created and you don't have to be the owner to get it copyrighted. If I was a billionaire like RightHaven I can copyright anyones content then sue them for it.

      My grandma did an investigation and found out RightHaven copyrighted somebodies own article and sued them for it.

      It can happen. When you create content yourself you can be sued for it.

    • 1 year ago
  • Freedom_Is_Popular
    • +1
      Freedom_Is_Popular  
    • postlapsaria:

      according to the copyright system you can legally steal peoples ideas and get away with it. I'm not encouraging stealing of peoples ideas but corporations have the money to steal anyones ideas.

      Once somebody copyrights something you will never be famous or get anything for the fruits of your labors.

      Good luck slave!

    • 1 year ago
  • uswgo_master
    • +3
      uswgo_master  
    • Freedom_Is_Popular:

      yes It is possible to legally steal other peoples content and have it copyrighted as your own. If RightHaven can do it so can you if you are a millionaire to a billionaire.

      The only solution is to reform copyright law, reform the justice system, and reform our political system.

      I know the system of legal theft very well because I tried to get a software program I created myself patented and I had to pay over $3,000 for a patent attorney just to patent a simple little software program I programmed using Liberty Basic.

      So if I was really rich it would be profitable to copyright other peoples content and then sue innocent people for it.

      Thats the copyright business baby! If you don't like it then abolish copyrights altogether or reform the law.

    • 1 year ago
  • Andre_Vatke
    • +1
      Andre_Vatke  
    • Freedom_Is_Popular:

      You're statement isn't entirely accurate. While you can copyright anything, defending it in court isn't as easy as this article makes out. For one the court tends to favor the creator of a work... if you can prove this, enforcing the copyright becomes very difficult.

      A good lawyer would look at the merits of your case and threaten to counter sue if it was in your favor. Problem is that most bloggers don't have the resources to hire a lawyer are suckered by aholes like this. It's more of a scam than an issue with the legal system.

    • 1 year ago
  • postlapsaria
    • 0
      postlapsaria  
    • Freedom_Is_Popular:

      so you're telling me the blogger used his own idea which someone stole?

      oh that's right he didn't.

      it may suck, and i'm sure people get screwed all the time, but the point of this post was that the guy used a picture from a website... he knew it wasn't his picture. so no boo hoo.

    • 1 year ago
  • dannym2
  • dannym2
    • +1
      dannym2  
    • Freedom_Is_Popular:

      I think that there should be a full investigation on these people,then have a public discloser,of the dirt,then flood the courts,till they see ,that people are not happy with the courts,for letting this git this far. How did we ever manage just a few years ago?

    • 1 year ago
  • uswgo_master
  • uswgo_master
    • +2
      uswgo_master  

    • This lawsuit is really crazy. Used to be you could be sued for sharing music and now you can be sued for just 1 photo on your blog. Next you'll be sued for using a term that Paris Hilton has used a lot and you know what I am talking about.

    • 1 year ago
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