Righthaven has filed over 100 copyright infringement lawsuits against bloggers and website owners who re-post news articles without permission. The
lawsuit that has drawn much media attention is a lawsuit against Sharron Angle, who is running for the Nevada senate seat and whose website,
sharonangle.com, posted two Las Vegas Review Journal news articles without permission.
Righthaven’s Modus Operandi
Righthaven’s method involves searching the internet for unauthorized postings of news articles, obtaining the copyright in those news articles,
and then filing suit. Righthaven has been heavily criticized and called a “copyright troll”. Righthaven launches suits in circumstances where
many content owners would simply issue a DMCA take-down letter, directly request the blogger/website owner remove the news article, - or frankly
just ignore the situation. Many of the sites sued by Righthaven operate on a small-scale and do not generate significant revenue.
Righthaven’s Illogical Pursuit of Domain Names
One aspect of these cases that has received less attention is Righthaven’s quest for the website owner’s domain name. It is possible to obtain
someone else’s domain name through a legal proceeding under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, the Anticybersquatting Consumer
Protection Act, or a federal or state trademark statute.
However, such claims have nothing to do with copyright – and everything to do with trademark.
In order to succeed in taking someone’s domain name under any of those theories, Righthaven must demonstrate that the website’s domain name is the
same as or confusingly similar to a trademark in which Righthaven has rights. In the Righthaven complaints I’ve read, Righthaven makes no mention of
any trademarks it seeks to protect.
I agree with Attorney Evan Brown that Righthaven’s pursuit of domain names makes no legal sense. It may have some Machiavellian strategic sense
by serving as an additional incentive for the website owner to settle quickly by paying Righthaven a few thousand dollars.