Lack of court rulings leaves Righthaven cash intact

The finances of Las Vegas copyright lawsuit filer Righthaven LLC remained intact Thursday after judges didn’t immediately rule on issues involving tens of thousands of dollars defendants claim to be owed.

After filing 275 no-warning infringement lawsuits in an 18-month litigation spree unprecedented in the newspaper industry, Righthaven’s business is stalled after court rulings against it this summer.

Most recently, the company asked U.S. District Judge Philip Pro in Las Vegas to stay his order requiring Righthaven to pay $34,045 in legal fees for prevailing defendant Wayne Hoehn.

The Hoehn case is noteworthy as the Kentucky man had posted an entire Las Vegas Review-Journal column on a sports betting website message board without authorization.

But Pro threw out Righthaven’s lawsuit against Hoehn, finding Righthaven lacked standing to sue and that Hoehn was protected by fair use with his post.

The payment to Hoehn’s attorneys was due Wednesday. With Pro not ruling on Righthaven’s request as of midday Thursday, Righthaven attorney Shawn Mangano said he planned to take the issue to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Randazza Legal Group of Las Vegas, which successfully represented Hoehn, in the meantime still had not been paid as of midday Thursday.

"Righthaven owes Mr. Hoehn $34,000. I have seen nothing to suggest that Righthaven has been granted a reprieve," said attorney Marc Randazza.

And in Denver on Thursday, Senior U.S. District Judge John Kane held a hearing on defendant Leland Wolf’s motion that Righthaven assets not be dissipated so his attorneys can be paid should they prevail in the case.

With Righthaven arguing that request was made in violation of court rules that require parties to confer before filing such motions, Kane indicated he may file an order in the case on Sept. 27 -- a week after a hearing on Wolf’s motion to dismiss Righthaven’s lawsuit against him.

As Kane decides the fate of 33 open Righthaven/Denver Post cases, with Wolf's case being the lead and only open case, Righthaven is still waiting for rulings on its standing to sue in South Carolina and Nevada.

While four Nevada judges have found Righthaven lacked standing to sue over Review-Journal material under its initial lawsuit contract with the owner of the R-J, Stephens Media LLC, Righthaven says it has now amended that contract beefing up its standing as a copyright plaintiff.

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