Defense attorneys step up criticism of Righthaven
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7 August 2011
10:25 a.m.
Righthaven Archives
Stephens Media LLC says its lawsuit partner Righthaven LLC of Las Vegas is addressing a "parasitic" business model in which newspaper content is regularly stolen by copyright infringers.
Defense attorneys charge, however, that Righthaven is merely running a money making scheme using dubious legal claims in no-warning lawsuits to coerce defendants into settling for a few thousand dollars.
In recent weeks, they’ve stepped up their attacks on Righthaven CEO Steven Gibson, a Las Vegas attorney, after he signed off on false court disclosures hiding the role of Stephens Media in lawsuits over Review-Journal material.
"Righthaven’s co-owners, Stephens Media (owner of member SI Content Monitor LLC) and Steven Gibson (owner of member Net Sortie Systems LLC and also Righthaven’s CEO), refuse to be stopped by anything, least of all copyright law and the rulings in this (court) district, in their rampage to obtain anything that even smells like money – often through settlements obtained after lawsuits are filed, but before defendants are served," said a filing last week by attorney J. Malcolm DeVoy IV of Randazza Legal Group.
Though they’re both controlled by the Warren Stephens family, Stephens Media says it does not own SI Content Monitor LLC and that they are separate companies.
Nevertheless, the Righthaven operating agreement refers to SI Content Monitor LLC as "Stephens" and the lawsuit contract between Righthaven and Stephens Media says SI Content Monitor and Stephens Media must have common owners.
Attorneys for the Electronic Frontier Foundation had the following to say about Gibson and Righthaven in a separate filing last week:
"As early as 2006, Las Vegas attorney Steven A. Gibson wrote about what he saw as a gold mine untapped by copyright holders. 'Steven A. Gibson & J.D. Lowry, The Need for Speed: The Path to Statutory Damages in Copyright.' Multiplying estimates of online infringement by the statutory damages available under the Copyright Act, Mr. Gibson saw `quadrillions’ of dollars in potential recovery. In short, he saw a path to quick riches, if only the copyright owners could be persuaded to file suit," the EFF filing said.
"Apparently, however, copyright holders did not wish to undertake the burdens of litigation. So Mr. Gibson imagined up a new scheme to cash in on those `quadrillions’ in statutory damages: Righthaven LLC," the EFF filing said.
"On Jan. 18, 2010, Mr. Gibson (through his shell company Net Sortie Systems LLC), along with the family of Warren Stephens (through their investment vehicle SI Content Monitor LLC), executed the Righthaven Operating Agreement, the foundational document of the company," the filing said.
Righthaven and Gibson, however, say criticism of the company and its tactics amounts to "mudslinging" and comes from the "infringement community."
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Sounds like Gibson could be subject to a libel claim when he says that criticism comes from the "infringement community". I for one am not an infringer but rather see Righthaven for what it is. They exist solely to profit from "infringements" as this article suggests.
Gibson thought he would reap "quadrillions" over this but instead he has reaped the whirl-wind and will be lucky to keep his law-licence intact.
To use a Vegas analogy, Gibson you have lost your shirt. Its time to to fold and go home.
All court costs for all of these cases need to be laid on him. He cannot simply be allowed to fold and go home.
I agree Mike. He needs to personally be held responsible for this.
If they were concerned about copyright - They WOULDN'T!! be suing people outright without first sending them a notice to cease and desist.
Stephen Media and Righthaven knew exactly what they were doing and they were NOT concerned about copyright infringements.
They lied to the Courts and now they have to face the music. Shame on them for engaging in this parasitic practice!