Ars Technica reports that Rights Haven’t, I mean Wrong Headed, I mean Righthaven has just gotten hit with another big fine in the form of a $119,488 legal fees award to another plaintiff. Couldn’t happen to a nicer law firm. The case in question, Righthaven vs. Thomas DiBiase, was another one of those cases that the noted e-newspaper copyright troll filed en masse in an attempt to force a several-thousand-dollar settlement, but DiBiase got it dismissed using the same argument that seems to be sinking Righthaven’s cases elsewhere: the company didn’t actually own the necessary rights in order to give it standing to sue.
Meanwhile, lawyers for Randazza Legal Group, which has already won a number of awards from Righthaven elsewhere but not been paid yet, has filed a motion for sanctions against Righthaven lawyer Shawn Mangano, stating that Mangano keeps using legal arguments in some of its cases that have already been thrown out in other cases, and is asking for $11,925.50 in fines.
If Righthaven was willing to make a huge fuss in order to avoid paying a $30,000 legal fee, I imagine it will try four times as hard to avoid paying one for four times as much. I’m going to continue to have a lot of fun watching it squirm for as long as my popcorn supply holds out.
