FAIL: RIAA Plans to Join Righthaven Copyright Trolls
The copyright trolls at Righthaven made a business out of scouring the net for websites that have used even the smallest parts of their partner newspapers’ materials and then threatening them with legal action.
If one outfit deserves the label copyright troll, it’s them.
Their practices have been scolded in courts and in the press. Not really a company one wants to be associated with.
But apparently the RIAA and the publisher’s group AAP don’t care about this PR nightmare, as they are planning to file an amicus brief to support part of Righthaven’s case.
They want to add their opinion in Righthaven’s lawsuit against Kentucky message board poster Wayne Hoehn, where it was ruled that reposting an entire article is fair use.
The RIAA and AAP, fearing for their business and informed the defendant’s lawyer Marc Randazza that they may join in on the case.
Randazza doesn’t think that this is a particularly good move, and responded immediately in his classic style.
As we discussed, I do not believe that their participation in the case is necessary or proper, nor do I believe that you have been entirely forthcoming with me with respect to their posture. You stated that your clients intend to pay you to file a “neutral” brief, which would be “not in support of either party.” Once you elaborated, you shared that your clients intend to argue that Righthaven’s lack of standing precluded the District of Nevada from making a finding of fair use.
This is precisely the sum and substance of Righthaven’s argument, and thus I consider any claims of this being “neutral” or “not in support of either party,” to be untruthful. I don’t like being bullshitted. I especially don’t like being bullshitted on behalf of someone trying to do Righthaven’s bidding
The full email is pasted below, and Randazza informed us that he has yet to receive a reply.
“I sent my letter on a Saturday,” Randazza tells TorrentFreak. An hour and a half later, the lawyer told me that my letter was “not worthy of a response.” So, I can not know for certain that he made that decision without consulting his client.”
It will be interesting to see whether the RIAA and AAP are clueless enough to join in. That would be an instant classic.
