Steve Gibson has a plan. To sue websites that post news articles.

[DogMom]

Newspaper Chain’s New Business Plan: Copyright Suits

Borrowing a page from patent trolls, the CEO of fledgling Las Vegas-based Righthaven has begun buying out the copyrights to newspaper content for the sole purpose of suing blogs and websites that re-post those articles without permission. And he says he’s making money.

Read More http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/201...#ixzz0unxoFrzM

I wonder if he plans to go after Facebook. And its 4-500 million plus users.

But he IS going after the Free Republic.

Conservative website among 3 sued over R-J copyrights

A conservative news-sharing website with plenty of experience in dealing with copyright issues has been sued for copyright infringement after Las Vegas Review-Journal stories allegedly were posted on its site.

Free Republic LLC, James C. Robinson and John Robinson, who are associated with the website www.freerepublic.com in Fresno, Calif., were sued in federal court in Las Vegas on Monday over the postings.

Court records indicate users of that website this year posted a dozen R-J stories, columns and editorials, with the R-J being credited as the source of the information.

These postings amount to copyright infringement, charges the lawsuit filed by Righthaven LLC, which has partnered with the Review-Journal to sue website operators around the country. The suit seeks damages of $75,000.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010...r-r-j-copyrig/

[HijabiGirl]

Admittedly my knowledge of copyright law could fit on a postage stamp but I thought crediting the source was exactly what protected you from copyright infringement charges? Why isn't this case being thrown out?

[Twisted]

Admittedly my knowledge of copyright law could fit on a postage stamp but I thought crediting the source was exactly what protected you from copyright infringement charges? Why isn't this case being thrown out?

There's two parts to it. The first is that you cite the original source. The other is that you do not just repost the entire article. You'd have to use it as a citation, with your own original content supplementing it, and then it should still be a partial citation with link to the full source.

[DogMom]

None of these have gone to court. All of the ones targeted by this guy have settled out of court to the tune of $1500 - $3000. The cost it would take to defend yourself. They are bullying the small websites and blogs into a settlement. That is how they are raking in the cash. Steve Gibson found a little niche where he can make money. What he needs is someone to say "Yeah...see you in court".

[DogMom]

Some targets of Righthaven lawsuits fighting back

The Righthaven lawsuits filed in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas at first glance seem pretty simple: They show bloggers, nonprofits and generally small-time websites around North America for years have been cutting and pasting entire Las Vegas Review-Journal stories on to their websites without authorization.

That seems like obvious copyright infringement. But, as defendants with and without attorneys fight back in some of the cases, Righthaven’s claims don’t appear to be so cut and dried.

The defense attorneys and some defendants without attorneys are making complex legal arguments about whether the Nevada court has jurisdiction over the out-of-state defendants, whether Righthaven itself has standing to sue and whether Righthaven failed to follow the law in filing no-warning lawsuits rather than first sending requests or takedown orders to the infringing websites.

Some of the defendants are arguing that Righthaven lacks standing to sue them because Righthaven didn’t own the copyrights at the time of the initial infringement.

Righthaven’s procedure has been to “troll” or find an infringement of an R-J copyright to a specific story. It then buys the copyright for that story from the R-J’s owner, Stephens Media LLC, and then sues the infringer — all the while continuing to troll for additional violations.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010...fighting-back/

Long article, but worth reading.