Las Vegas Sun |Â Law.com
A federal court has ordered U.S. Marshals to seize $63,720 in assets from Righthaven – the embattled Law Vegas company that files copyright infringement lawsuits. Righthaven tried to make money by acquiring the copyrights to newspaper articles – mostly from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, then suing websites that reprinted them. (It intended to split the proceeds from the lawsuits with its partner newspapers.)
But many of the suits backfired. In several cases, judges ruled that Righthaven didn’t control the copyrights. Other courts concluded that the websites had fair use to reprint the stories. Righthaven has been ordered to reimburse defendants more than $200,000 in legal fees, and the company says it may face bankruptcy if its assets are seized.
Righthaven may appeal Tuesday’s seizure order, which came after Kentucky website owner Wayne Hoehn prevailed in a lawsuit Righthaven filed against him.
“We’re evaluating the appropriate course of action,’’ Righthaven attorney Shawn Mangano told the Las Vegas Sun. || Earlier: Righthaven hit with largest penalty yet for a failed copyright lawsuit: $119,000 | Judge dismisses copyright case, says Righthaven can’t sue on behalf of Las Vegas Review-Journal