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Righthaven files 2 copyright lawsuits, settles 3

By (contact)

Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.

Two website operators were sued for copyright infringement Tuesday by Righthaven LLC, boosting Righthaven’s lawsuit total since March to at least 159.

Righthaven is the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s online copyright enforcement partner. It detects infringements, obtains copyrights to the stories at issue and then retroactively sues the alleged infringers.

One Righthaven suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas against The Ad Network Inc., a Florida company, and Bob Drascal, both associated with the website www.celeb-gossips.info.

Material from a Sept. 12 Review-Journal item, “Week In Review: Top News,” was copied and displayed on the celeb-gossips.info website without authorization, the lawsuit alleges.

Drascal couldn’t be located for comment.

Another Righthaven lawsuit was filed in the same court against James Karban, whom Righthaven says is the registrant of the website www.thewebcredit.com.

A Sept. 10 Review-Journal review of a movie called “The Duel” was posted on Karban’s website without authorization, the lawsuit charges.

Karban also couldn’t be located for comment.

As usual, Righthaven seeks $150,000 in damages in each lawsuit, as well as forfeiture of the defendants’ website domain names.

Separately, a Canadian college sued last week by Righthaven has denied Righthaven’s allegations of copyright infringement.

“Our position from our legal counsel is that we did not infringe on the copyright as the material was posted strictly for teaching purposes under fair use,” Imperial Hotel Management College in Vancouver said in an e-mail to Righthaven attorneys. “However, to show our goodwill to Righthaven, we have voluntarily removed the material and consider the matter closed.”

The college was accused by Righthaven of violating its copyright by posting on a college website a Review-Journal story, photo and graphic about the Vdara “death ray.”

Separately, Righthaven reached confidential settlements with three additional defendants:

• Margaret Soltan

• P.O.W. Network

• Silver Matrix LLC

Discussion: 4 comments so far…

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  1. By ChunkyFlyRight
    Oct. 27, 2010
    8:21 a.m.
    Flag

    Chunky says:

    He appreciates Mr. Green staying on this story and not letting it die out.

    If Chunky were an aspiring local attorney or a partner in a local law firm specializing in intellectual property rights he would jump at the chance to take on Righthaven. Someone needs to make it so tough and onerous for Righthaven to file and work these suits that they think twice or three times about filing them. Fight fire with fire!

    Chunky also worries that the local good old boy network amongst the lawyers means few if any are willing to step up to the plate and play hardball against these legal bullies.

    That's what Chunky thinks!

  2. By lericgoodman (Leric Goodman)
    Oct. 27, 2010
    8:44 a.m.
    Flag

    Thanks for the reporting. At least they filed fewer cases than they resolved, so they are moving in the right direction to reduce the congestion of the District Court.

  3. By mred
    Oct. 27, 2010
    10:57 a.m.
    Flag

    Just get an untraceable website in some other country. Rightklaven and the crowd at the Bonanza Bacchanal won't be able to find you.

    POW Network.? This makes sense because the RJ always wants to cut Veterans programs, and programs to help the troops. They are linked to the anti-Veterans radio station in town that in turn supports an Ollie North charity that doesn't help the troops the way they claim.

    "RJ Headliners" runs on KXNT Stock Republican "News" Show.

    VoteVets, "CREW" and conservative Debbie Schlussel found that the KXNT "Freedom Concert" promoted charity has a poor track record of helping Vets. They only earned a "2 Star - needs improvement rating" from Charity Navigator, a rating service that is not even that exacting. Other charity watch dog groups don't even rate the so-called "Vets" charity because they don't provide adequate financial data.

    In one case the charity gave $165. to a veteran who lost three limbs. SHAME!

    Shame on the RJ, the "Freedom Concerts," Alan Stock, KXNT, and Sean Hannity for treating Veterans and Veterans Groups this badly.

    Just search engine: "Freedom Concert Scam" and see for yourself.

  4. By ksand99 (Kevin Sandoval)
    Oct. 27, 2010
    11:33 a.m.
    Flag

    From Wired:

    The $105 Fix That Could Protect You From Copyright Troll Lawsuits

    http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/10...

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