Righthaven, the Las Vegas-based copyright-holding company that has sued hundreds of bloggers and websites for infringement over the past year, suffered its biggest setback yet last week, when a federal district court judge in Nevada ruled that an Oregon nonprofit that republished an entire article from the Las Vegas Review-Journal — one of Righthaven’s copyright-enforcement partners — was protected by fair use.
The loss, just the company’s second to date on the merits in more than 250 cases filed, could have far-reaching consequences if upheld on appeal by potentially hindering Righthaven’s ability to attract other news organizations to sign on to its controversial copyright litigation campaign.
