tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4513524515428334509.post1580568161545471707..comments2024-03-26T10:41:35.852+00:00Comments on The 1709 Blog: MediaCAT saga - solicitors finedMarie-Andree Weisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17125973798789498436noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4513524515428334509.post-28943982045509849542011-09-22T09:55:17.504+01:002011-09-22T09:55:17.504+01:00I noticed story on a similar topic in the United S...I noticed story on a similar topic in the United States a couple of weeks ago when 'copyright troll' Righthaven was 'Kicked Out Of Court Again'. Here US District Judge Kent Dawson became the third federal judge to rule that Righthaven LLC lacked standing to sue over the alleged infringement of a Las Vegas based newspaper's copyrights. <br /><br />Since early 2010 Righthaven has filed nearly 300 lawsuits on behalf of newspapers who are copyright owners and whose works have ended up being used on the web. Righthaven's modus operandi is to surf the web for online postings of content from its partner newspapers, then purchases the copyrights from the newspapers when it uncovers an alleged infringement. Whilst the copyright assignments obtained by Righthaven are often seemingly quite broad, recent lawsuits have uncovered that Righthaven sometimes fails to obtain the exclusive rights necessary to maintain standing in a copyright infringement actions in the USA and some judges have determined that it is the partner newspapers rather than Righthaven who still retain control over the copyright(s).<br /><br />Righthaven's business model is certainly not popular, not least because "they employ aggressive, unfair litigation tactics against sympathetic and unsympathetic defendants alike" whilst others comment that Righthaven's lawsuits monetise infringement litigation and stifle the exchange of creative ideas and "seek remedies far in excess of those that are statutorily prescribed"<br /><br />Marcella Ballard and Victoria R Danta, writing on Venable LLP's website, say that "Righthaven may soon find its "business model" obsolete. More than ever, federal judges appear willing to curtail Righthaven's attempts to ignore norms about reasonable and acceptable use of copyrighted material, and that, most can agree, is a good thing.<br /><br />You can see more at http://www.venable.com/copyright-troll-righthaven-kicked-out-of-court-again-08-05-2011/Ben Challishttp://www.musiclawupdates.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4513524515428334509.post-71492858315899129152011-09-14T08:47:20.012+01:002011-09-14T08:47:20.012+01:00I think the headline is a bit misleading. As far a...I think the headline is a bit misleading. As far as I'm aware there was never any relationship between MediaCAT ltd and Davenport Lyons, just between MediaCAT and ACS:law. <br />Of course this fine and HH Judge Birss's excoriating comments in the ACS:law case, together with the predicted demise of Righthaven in the US, are good news which might just signal the end of this kind of rights trolling.AndyJnoreply@blogger.com