Steve Green reports the good news/bad news involving Righthaven in the courts:
The Las Vegas Review-Journal online copyright infringement lawsuit campaign sustained a setback Tuesday when a judge granted a real estate agent’s motion for dismissal, ruling his posting of part of a Review-Journal story on his website amounted to fair use under copyright law.
But in another case involving a Review-Journal story on Wednesday, copyright enforcement company Righthaven LLC received a boost when a second judge denied a motion to dismiss and authorized the parties to engage in evidence-gathering through discovery.
Read more in the Las Vegas Sun. Green really goes through the case involving Michael Nelson and Realty One (the case that was dismissed) and explains the judge’s reasons for dismissal. I’ve uploaded a copy of the order here (pdf). The decision, while not binding in other areas, may have implications for many of the lawsuits Righthaven filed in federal court in Nevada as many of them may be able to make the same “fair use” argument.
With respect to the case that wasn’t dismissed, the one involving an emergency medical services website based in New Hampshire called EMTCity.com, the defendants may be able to renew a motion to dismiss after consideration of some jurisdictional issues.