E-newspaper copyright troll Righthaven continues to have hard times in court. PaidContent reports on Judge Roger Hunt fining Righthaven $5,000 for not disclosing Stephens Media’s financial interest in the lawsuit pursuant to a Nevada litigation rule. Righthaven tried to pin the blame on a couple of lawyers who were no longer with the firm, but Hunt didn’t buy it, since Righthaven’s CEO Steve Gibson was the driving force behind the contract and lawsuits.
When the transcript does come out, it’s going to show that the lack of disclosure wasn’t the only thing that Hunt was upset about. Hunt kicked off the hearing by saying: “In the court’s view, the arrangement between Righthaven and Stephens Media is nothing more, nor less, than a law firm — which incidentally I don’t think is licensed to practice law in this state — with a contingent fee agreement masquerading as a company.”
Ouch.
Ars Technica reports on another Nevada judge smacking Righthaven down for trying to change the facts in the middle of a lawsuit. After the judge threw out Righthaven’s case against a blogger who reposted the complete text of an article for not having standing (that pesky thing about actually having to own one of the “exclusive rights” in a work to sue), Righthaven changed its agreement and tried to tell the judge it applied retroactively. That judge didn’t buy Righthaven’s legal wrangling either, and still dismissed the case.
Righthaven nonetheless turned right around and re-filed the suit, saying that its new agreement now gives it standing. (Though there’s still some dispute about that.)
Ah, Righthaven. I haven’t been this entertained by a lawsuit since the whole SCO thing wrapped up.
