Righthaven Archives
Las Vegas copyright enforcement company Righthaven LLC is disputing assertions by a federal judge that it was involved in a "factually brazen" misrepresentation to the court.
On June 14, U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt in Las Vegas ordered Righthaven to show cause why it should not be sanctioned for failing to disclose Las Vegas Review-Journal owner Stephens Media LLC is an interested party in its lawsuits, as Stephens Media shares in Righthaven’s lawsuit revenue.
Such disclosures are required so judges can determine if they have conflicts that need to be disclosed or would prevent them from presiding over a case.
In the Righthaven cases, the correct disclosure also would have alerted defendants to the fact the Review-Journal and the Denver Post stood to benefit financially from the suits against them. Since Righthaven claimed to have full ownership of copyrights it sued over, many defendants thought only Righthaven would benefit from damages or settlement money. Two judges have now ruled Righthaven doesn’t have full ownership of the copyrights at issue – voiding four lawsuits so far.
Righthaven – which sues over alleged online infringements of Las Vegas Review-Journal and Denver Post material – responded Wednesday that Hunt’s "factually brazen" commentary "inaccurately implies that Righthaven intentionally failed to comply" with the disclosure rule.
"Righthaven did not intentionally, recklessly or willfully fail to comply with (the rule) in this case or in any other pending action," Righthaven’s filing said.
Rather, its past and current attorneys failed to fully comprehend the language in the rule requiring disclosure of parties with a "direct, pecuniary interest" in the litigation, Righthaven said.
"In fact, I did not fully appreciate the need to disclose Stephens Media under Local Rule 7.1-1 in view of the SAA’s (Stephens Media/Righthaven lawsuit Strategic Alliance Agreement) terms until reviewing the court’s June 14, 2011, order," Righthaven attorney Shawn Mangano wrote in a court declaration. "I reasonably viewed any contingent payment to Stephens Media under the SAA as constituting an indirect interest that required a two-step payment process assuming any case resulted in a recovery. Simply put, receipt of settlement funds through settlement or recovery by the enforcement of a judgment would be made to Righthaven. Righthaven would then be contractually obligated under the SAA to subsequently pay Stephens Media any recovered sums over and above costs incurred."
Mangano noted that immediately after Hunt’s sanctions threat, he amended Righthaven’s disclosures to name Stephens Media and, in the Denver Post cases, its parent company MediaNews Group, as interested parties.
Hunt hasn’t indicated when he may rule on the sanctions issue. Righthaven, which has filed 274 lawsuits since March 2010, has seen two federal judges dismiss its suits this month based on lack of standing – and three more judges are threatening to do the same thing.