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Published Friday, May 28, 2010 | 10:50 a.m.
Updated Friday, May 28, 2010 | 6:31 p.m.
Sun Coverage
- 4 more sites sued over alleged R-J copyright infringements (5-20-10)
- 14th website sued over R-J copyright allegations (5-17-10)
- More suits over alleged R-J copyrights bring number to 13 (5-14-10)
- Suits accuse groups of posting copyrighted R-J stories (5-5-10)
- Two more websites sued over posting of R-J stories (5-3-10)
- Sixth copyright suit filed over R-J stories on websites (4-26-10)
- 3 copyright suits filed over R-J stories on Web sites (4-16-10)
- Suits accuse 2 groups of posting copyrighted R-J stories online (3-17-10)
Four more website operators were sued Thursday over allegations they infringed on copyrights by posting, without authorization, stories by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
This brings to 22 the number of copyright lawsuits filed in federal court in Las Vegas since March 13 by Righthaven LLC, a company that has been obtaining copyrights to R-J stories and then suing individuals, companies and organizations that allegedly infringed on the copyrights.
The suits filed Thursday were against:
--Las Vegas mixed martial arts fight company Tuff-N-Uff Productions Inc. and its president, Barry Meyer. An R-J story involving a Tuff-N-Uff fight allegedly was posted on the Tuff-N-Uff website.
--Swadeep Nigam, whom Righthaven says is associated with the website www.vegasdesi.com, which covers the local South Asian community. That website allegedly posted an R-J story on the bankruptcy of Dr. Dipak Desai.
--Andre McCollough, whom Righthaven says is associated with the website www.vegasbubble.com, covering the Las Vegas real estate industry. That site allegedly posted stories by the Review-Journal and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Business Press.
--Ozean Group and Thomas Wahl in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada; whom Righthaven says are associated with the website hotelnewsresource.com. An R-J story on the closure of the Ritz-Carlton in Lake Las Vegas allegedly was posted on that website.
In a blog post Friday, Review-Journal Publisher Sherman Frederick explained that the R-J and its owner, Stephens Media, have decided to act against the theft of copyrighted material.
He wrote: “When it comes to copyrighted material — news that my company spends money to gather and constitutes the essence of what we are as a business — some people think they can not only look at it, but also steal it. And they do.’’
“We grubstaked and contracted with a company called Righthaven. It’s a local technology company whose only job is to protect copyrighted content. It is our primary hope that Righthaven will stop people from stealing our stuff. It is our secondary hope, if Righthaven shows continued success, that it will find other clients looking for a solution to the theft of copyrighted material,” Frederick wrote.
Jeff Meyer, vice president at Tuff-N-Uff, said Friday that the company was unaware there was an issue with its website posting the R-J story until Tuff-N-Uff was contacted Friday for comment by the Las Vegas Sun. Meyer said Tuff-N-Uff didn't intend to infringe on copyrights and had taken steps to ensure stories posted on its website properly credited the source.
Messages for comment were left with the other three defendants.
Of the earlier suits, court records show at least four have been settled under undisclosed terms. Those cases were against New Jersey firm MoneyReign Inc.; Henderson real estate agent Matt Farnham; Mark Chavez, who was associated with a University of New Mexico sports website; and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, D.C.
Attorneys for another defendant, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), based in Washington, D.C., are fighting the lawsuit.
They say Righthaven lacks standing to prosecute the alleged infringement because it hasn't show it owned the copyrights for R-J stories when those stories initially appeared on the NORML website; and that the Nevada federal court lacks jurisdiction over NORML.
My question is...is it against the law to post a newspaper story along with a link to that story on a message board?
Hi ShannonK, I'm no lawyer, but we do remove comments that contain copyrighted material from another source -- or at least that contain more than the fair use doctrine allows. (Here's more info on that: http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html)
The preferred method is to deep link to a story, as opposed to copying and pasting the text of a story from another source. I hope that helps.
VegasVegas,
THANK YOU.
Laugh of The Day!!!
If Sherman Frederick was the Advisor on said Rancho High Newspaper, and I was the Principal, I'd haul him into my office and talk to him about
Ethics in Journalism.
the nut blogs, sludge and nut talk radio regurgitate Sherm's stuff all the time, and he encourages them, goes on their shows etc...especially when it is about Harry Reid.
guess it is who is using their stuff
is the RJ about to go down? maybe they are in financial difficulty? it seems they want to sue everyone for a buck or two
The Review Journal is a pathetic excuse for a news source anyway. I would like to see someone investigate indept who is behind Righthaven LLC, and also investigate when Righthaven LLC aquires the copy right. They probably troll around looking for RJ's pathetic stories then run back and buy the copy right then file a suit. Pretty sad senario. But I do agree its best to just link to the original source to avoid any problems.
Appreciate the link, Tim. Heaven forbid I get sued by the RJ for posting one of their stories for debate purposes (though I always post the link to the original story).
RJ is joined at the hip with talk radio and the Sludgereport etc ..look what has happen to local talk radio...they are replacing political talk with news, financial tightwad programs, infomercials, health programs and oldies music...people that listen to talk radio and look at the pictures in the RJ (notice I didn't say read) don't buy much.
I suggest a coloring book edition of the RJ complete with a small box of crayons.
Are they not biting off the hands that feed them? Many of these stories would never have been shared if it wasn't for these people posting the stories. One side of the argument, the logical one, says that by providing this service now, in the very near future, everyone reading that story may go to that newspaper for FUTURE articles on their own time. Now these sources won't even mess with that newspaper as it loses even more potential views.
They are going down with a fight.
BTW, visit any blog, website, or messageboard out there today, and you'll find copyrighted photos, along with text and articles. I'm not saying it's right if everyone and their mothers are doing something, but it lends to the realization that maybe a WARNING and verbal announcement would be better. But they don't want it to stop. They want to continue on with the lawsuits forever.
VegasVegas, as the onetime editor of Rancho's student newspaper, I deeply resent your implication that Rancho's student newspaper does not practice better journalism than the R-J does. The problem is, other than Fox News, I am at a loss to think of a legitimate comparison for the R-J overall (my sympathies to and respect for R-J reporters and a couple of the columnists notwithstanding).
Do people really read that rag anyway ; usually people that hold those positions don't read.
I wish I could sue Righthaven LLC for wasting the court's time.
When's vegas going to get a real newspaper !
hahaha!
the r-j has enough "stored fat" from being the only paper (the sun really doesn't count) in one of the fastest growing cities in america for 10 years.
combine that with paying a very low wage to their employees and the pushing out of older workers so they can pay 20 somethings a lower wage and they have money to burn.
It's not the New York Times or Dallas Morning News thats for sure. It would be nice to read something good out here in the desert.