Philippines IP Office: Anti-Counterfeiting Meeting Isn't About Kowtowing To Corporate Interests... Except That It Is

Sanctions Sought Against Righthaven's Lawyers For Not Dismissing Remaining Cases

from the make-it-stop dept

Thu, Oct 27th 2011 7:33pm — Mike Masnick

In its continuing effort to put the final nail in the coffin of Righthaven, the Randazza Legal Group has now filed for sanctions against Righthaven's lawyers. The filing argues that, given the multiple rulings in multiple jurisdictions slamming Righthaven's legal strategy and specifically ruling that Righthaven has no standing to sue, while also questioning if there even is any infringement here at all, Righthaven has a duty to dismiss its remaining cases:

Righthaven�s scheme has been rejected nationwide. Within this District, Courts had ruled four times that Righthaven did not have standing to sue its defendants � and that its amendments to the SAA made after filing suit were ineffective � just between June 14 and June 23, 2011.4 To the extent any legitimate question of law existed about Righthaven�s standing to sue in the first place, considering this Circuit�s precedent in Silvers v. Sony Pictures Entertainment Corp., 402 F.3d 881 (9th Cir. 2005), and Sybersound Records, Incorporated v. UAV Corporation, 517 F.3d 1137 (9th Cir. 2008), that doubt should have been resolved in June upon Righthaven�s fourth adverse ruling on standing. Yet, only days away from Halloween, the Defendants in this action continue to bear the costs of litigation establishing Righthaven�s lack of standing. This District has conclusively settled this exact issue, and Righthaven�s consistent argument to the contrary can no longer be advanced in good faith. Righthaven and its Counsel have a duty to dismiss this case, and not to waste the Court�s time or the Defendant�s time and resources in making the exact same arguments, which have been rejected again, and again, and again, and again.

The filing notes that continuing with these other lawsuits isn't just a waste of everyone's time, but reaches the level of vexatious litigation, by pursuing such cases in obvious bad faith. In the case at hand, involving a site called NewsBlaze, Righthaven's lawyer, Shawn Mangano, has been trying to argue that, since its original motion to dismiss didn't bring up the standing issue, it can't be added later. It appears that Righthaven is also trying to re-argue the standing issue to some extent, though as this filing notes, that's settled law in this court:

Righthaven is precluded from further arguing that it has standing to bring this action under the SAA, and that its amendments executed after filing suit are effective, by the doctrine of issue preclusion � formerly known as collateral estoppel. When an issue has been fully and actually litigated, as these issues have been ad nauseam in this District, a party is barred from relitigating the issue.

Will we finally see the end of Righthaven?

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: copyright, sanctions, vexatious litigation
Companies: righthaven

26 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

lll, 27 Oct 2011 @ 7:42pm

Righthaven is the new SCO.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
out_of_the_blue, 27 Oct 2011 @ 8:40pm

"Will we finally see the end of Righthaven?"
We could have long ago if you didn't keep posting this sheerly "inside court" crap!

All those with me signify agreement by NOT commenting! *
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Jeremy7600 (profile), 27 Oct 2011 @ 8:49pm

Re: "Will we finally see the end of Righthaven?"
I love reading Righthaven stories. I've probably read every single one and had a smile of glee as they get their asses handed to them.

Toodles!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 27 Oct 2011 @ 9:00pm

Re: "Will we finally see the end of Righthaven?"
Well, I'm definitely NOT with you so I guess I better comment.

These stories always give me a small, though very small, glimmer of hope for our
Justice system... and it always makes me smile to see a copyright troll get smacked around:)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Larry, 27 Oct 2011 @ 9:06pm

Can't end
soon enough.

I just hope that the innocent defendants in these cases become whole again by having their legal defense bills paid.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
abc gum, 27 Oct 2011 @ 9:19pm

Re: "Will we finally see the end of Righthaven?"
Flawless logic - All those who do not comment here are in agreement.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Ed C., 27 Oct 2011 @ 9:30pm

Re: Re: "Will we finally see the end of Righthaven?"
You lose.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Ed C., 27 Oct 2011 @ 9:31pm

Re: "Will we finally see the end of Righthaven?"
You lose.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Ed C., 27 Oct 2011 @ 9:34pm

Oops
Sorry, meant to say I agree. Somehow I managed to type the comment meant for blue instead.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 27 Oct 2011 @ 9:37pm

Re: Re: "Will we finally see the end of Righthaven?"
While Blue is generally very retarded, I believe that his comment was intended to be some twisted form of sarcasm, though I can't seem to parse what point, if any, he's trying to make.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 27 Oct 2011 @ 9:43pm

righthaven has done this so poorly that it has effectively crippled this business model for anyone else. the only thing i can think of in the way of lingering question is do we classify them as really really big screw ups or lawyers who fought this out to increase their billable hours knowing that what they did violated their professional ethics and oath.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 27 Oct 2011 @ 9:43pm

Re: "Will we finally see the end of Righthaven?"
Righthaven is the gift that keeps on giving...

I still wonder if someone didn't create Righthaven just to fail and demonstrate how bad a copyright troll can be.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Atkray (profile), 27 Oct 2011 @ 10:18pm

Re: Re: Re: "Will we finally see the end of Righthaven?"
blue has been in odd form today.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
FUDPACKER, 27 Oct 2011 @ 10:29pm

OOTB
Is inept and inarticulate to a degree I hadn't thought possible.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
DOlz (profile), 27 Oct 2011 @ 11:54pm

Guest spot
I keep expecting Righthaven to make a guest appearance on "The Walking Dead".
[ link to this | view in thread ]
davnel (profile), 28 Oct 2011 @ 1:01am

RightHaven in General
Those of us chortling over Righthavens potential demise, and wanting a complete record of their travails, can find an archive here: http://www.vegasinc.com/news/legal/righthaven/
[ link to this | view in thread ]
davnel (profile), 28 Oct 2011 @ 3:32am

Re: Re: "Will we finally see the end of Righthaven?"
"I still wonder if someone didn't create Righthaven just to fail and demonstrate how bad a copyright troll can be."

Or, better, how bad copyright LAW is.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
davnel (profile), 28 Oct 2011 @ 3:38am

Re:
I'm sorry, but even though lawyers are SUPPOSED to have ethics, one rarely sees them being exercized. It's all for personal gain and thus billable hours, regardless. And, the minute said lawyers become politicians all ethics go out the window, permanently.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
davnel (profile), 28 Oct 2011 @ 3:45am

Re: Can't end
By "made whole" I presume you also include the "settlement" payments made by those conned into settling.

Actually, the only way that's going to happen, and the affected see any money, is if Stephens Media is brought into the case and made responsible.

Again I say, if Stephens or any other third-party participant to the "agreements" can be proven to have received disbursements from Righthaven, they can be legally attached to the case and made responsible. It couldn't happen to a nicer bunch.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
abc gum, 28 Oct 2011 @ 4:35am

Re:
"crippled this business model for anyone else"

lol - wut?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Howard the Duck, 28 Oct 2011 @ 4:37am

Re: "Will we finally see the end of Righthaven?"
I love Righthaven like the sun loves skin.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 28 Oct 2011 @ 5:37am

Re: Re: "Will we finally see the end of Righthaven?"
Jeremy, they just need guidance. They're not getting anything handed to them. The judges want them to win.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 28 Oct 2011 @ 5:43am

Re: Re: Re: "Will we finally see the end of Righthaven?"
My guess is that by automatically assuming everyone who doesn't comment is in agreement with him, it's a masturbatory attempt to claim that his perspective trumps the article's; that is, against whatever Mike is saying.

If Mike doesn't make a comment I think ootb might just jizz himself.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Wayne, 28 Oct 2011 @ 6:00am

I would love to hear what Sherman Frederick and Steve Gibson do to explain this away and how Righthaven is still going to win and they have an ace up their sleeve thats going to change this all, etc.

Lawyers and ethics? Ha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhhahahhahahhaha cough cough cough, sorry i think I just laughed up a lung.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 28 Oct 2011 @ 10:53am

Re: Re:
*rubs eyes*

"crippled this business model for anyone else"

lol - wut?

*rubs eyes again*

"crippled this business model for anyone else"

/facepalm
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 28 Oct 2011 @ 11:57am

Re: Re: Re: "Will we finally see the end of Righthaven?"
No idea how you can possibly say that with a straight face.
[ link to this | view in thread ]