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Friday, Feb. 25, 2011 | 11:36 a.m.
Media giant Citadel Broadcasting Co. was hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit Thursday after one of its radio station websites conducted a caption contest for a Denver Post "TSA enhanced pat-down" photo.
Citadel, based in Las Vegas, was sued in U.S. District Court for Nevada by Righthaven LLC, also of Las Vegas.
Righthaven, which sues over Las Vegas Review-Journal and Denver Post material, complained in its lawsuit that 630WPRO radio talk show host Matt Allen in Providence, R.I., posted the photo without authorization on the station website.
It's unclear if Righthaven or the Denver Post have asked Citadel or 630WPRO to remove the photo from the website -- the photo at issue remained posted with the caption contest information on the 630WPRO home page Friday.
The Nov. 18 photo showing a passenger being patted down at Denver International Airport was distributed to media outlets by The Associated Press and some observers say it has become a symbol of controversial enhanced TSA screening procedures.
Some Righthaven defendants have said they had no idea the photo came from the Denver Post after it went viral and was distributed all over the web, while at least one defendant is complaining the Denver Post urges people to share its material online with online-sharing tools and then sues them for doing so.
The Post, however, has an explicit copyright warning stating its material can't be reproduced in full.
None of the lawsuits over the photo have advanced to the stage where a judge has ruled on their validity and Righthaven attorneys have not yet responded to the defenses offered by defendants.
Righthaven has now sued at least 35 website operators over the photo including white supremacist David Duke and Drudge Report owner Matt Drudge, who settled this month with Righthaven under undisclosed terms.
Righthaven, as usual, demands $150,000 in damages in Thursday's lawsuit against Citadel and co-defendant Allen. Righthaven is also asking the Nevada court to seize the 630WPRO website domain name and transfer it to Righthaven.
"The defendants distributed, and continue to distribute, an unauthorized reproduction of the work (photo) on the website, in derogation of Righthaven’s exclusive rights," Righthaven charged in its suit.
Messages for comment were left with Citadel and Allen.
Thursday's suit lifts to at least 239 the number of copyright infringement lawsuits Righthaven has filed since March in federal courts in Nevada, Colorado and South Carolina.
Hopefully this is a company with enough money and guts to take Righthaven to task.
"Some Righthaven defendants have said they had no idea the photo came from the Denver Post after it went viral and was distributed all over the web, while at least one defendant is complaining the Denver Post urges people to share its material online with online-sharing tools and then sues them for doing so.
The Post, however, has an explicit copyright warning stating its material can't be reproduced in full."
This is starting to sound defendable to me. In the original D.P. story you have text and the image. So taking the image and reporting it is not "reproducing in full" in the mind of an average person. Combined with the fact that the "Denver Post urges people to share its material" I think you have a defense there.
I assume that virtually every defendant was wrong in this series of lawsuits. But I also assume they didn't know the law and a "takedown" notice certainly was in order before litigation.
It is just beyond me why Stephens Media lets these lawsuits continue, especially with almost all new management.
Aside from the Denver Post, there are few, if any, other newspapers taking this sort of precipitous approach.
I think the outcome will be a disaster for the RJ, once a suit actually goes to court and the plaintiffs are awarded a buck or two and no legal fees.
The RJ's an okay newspaper if you take the editorial page out of it, but now, this paper which has in the recent past told its reporters and staff it's "profitable," is laying off folks left and right.
Thanks, Steve Green for continue to cover the story.
I have noticed that almost no new lawsuits have been published over LVRJ articles. Infact I have not heard of any new suits that does not involve the TSA image. I have a feeling Righthaven's client base is getting skittish about selling them more copyrights. I have talked with Denver Post reporters and lawyers and they have told me this issue is causing major waves in their newsrooms. There is open anger on this subject because they can see this is not going to end well for them or Righthaven. This issue could potentially destroy News Media Group if illegal or even unethical tactics were used in the "transferring" of "ownership" of these copyrights to Righthaven.
Please cancel your RJ subscriptions IF this offends you. I think the Sun is taking a good path toward becoming an successful online newspaper. The RJ is hanging onto the past by its fingernails and time is running out. It's hardly worth visiting the RJ's site any longer.
" Thursday's suit lifts to at least 239 the number of copyright infringement lawsuits Righthaven has filed".
It's time for Righthaven to start paying the taxpayers back for the use and abuse of the Public Court facilities.
How much could this photo be possibly worth? It seems generic enough that anyone in anytown USA can capture something similar. Would that be a copyright infringement too if media outlets recreated this photo using their own equipment.
To me it seems like a $500-1500 dollar infringement. Time and money put into getting that photographer to take the photo and upload it. Maybe a couple hundred since he used expensive equipment. Nothing more. How can such commonplace items be copyrighted?
Most photographers watermark their work with the photographers name in the corner of the photo, or like gettyimages, a visible watermark on the photo itself. Why not be proactive with protecting your work. Some websites seem to have a right click disabler, so you can't save the photo to your harddrive.
These websites aren't doing anything like that. Great BAIT work Righthaven
Hate talk radio network, partially syndicate Sean Hannity. Filed BK a while back. Angle, Drudge, Citadel...I hope they sue Rush Limbaugh next...I love it when they eat their own
RJ has lost my business as a result of the actions of this group. I would like to see them just take thier ball and go play someplace else.