Unsealed document exposes copyright troll’s slimy tactics

Did the copyright trolls at Righthaven actually have the right to initiate lawsuits on behalf of Stephens Media-owned news outlets? Maybe not, according to a documented agreement between the two companies that was recently unsealed by the courts.

Though Righthaven has been handling copyright claims on behalf of Stephens Media for much of the past year, the Strategic Alliance Agreement between the two companies was just revealed last week in a case brought against the Democratic Underground by Righthaven. The document reveals that Righthaven only has the right to initiate lawsuits based upon photos or stories that infringe upon Stephens Media outlets, and agrees upon a 50/50 split in revenue between the two companies for each successful copyright case won.

After the discovery, Righthaven immediately moved to dismiss their case against Democratic Underground, but the Underground’s attorneys are now pressing for a fair use ruling first.

“Righthaven has been conveyed no rights in the work at issue other than the right to sue for infringement, a fact that renders the assignment to Righthaven invalid,” Democratic Underground lawyers claim. They also noted that the “sham and unenforceable nature of the assignments to Righthaven” may affect “hundreds of cases now improperly pending in this District.”

U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt, the one who called for the unsealing of the agreement, was especially incensed by Righthaven’s behavior in their cases.

“The use of phrases, in the Motion to Strike, such as ‘underhanded,’ ‘a ruse,’ ‘blatantly ignored,’ ‘brazen attempt,’ ‘fumbling attempt,’ ‘purposefully muddle,’ and ‘complaint reeks of hypocrisy,’ is a very unprofessional attempt to attack counsel rather than address the issues,” the judge wrote. “There is an old adage in the law that, if the facts are on your side, you pound on the facts. If the law is on your side, you pound on the law. If neither the facts nor the law is on your side, you pound on the table. It appears there is a lot of table pounding going on here.”

Now, Stephens Media, which has tried to distance itself from all the litigation, may be called into the pending cases as the “real party of interest,” and could be on the hook for any attorney’s fees that are awarded to defendants.  Meanwhile, a defense lawyer in two current Righthaven cases has motioned to dismiss the cases stating that Righthaven does not have jurisdiction, and many more similar filings will likely take place this week.

Righthaven, however, denies any wrongdoing. “We completely disagree with DU’s position and will be responding to the Court accordingly,” the company’s attorneys stated in a response to Ars Technica’s inquiries on Monday.

This is potentially a big with for fair use proponents, and could finally be the unraveling of the copyright trolls at Righthaven.