Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Buying Copyrights, Then Patrolling the Web for Infringement - NYTimes.com

Dubious business model of the week; also see Newspapers vs. The Internet (NPR)

Some critics, however, contend that Righthaven’s tactics are draconian, and that the company hopes to extract swift settlements before it is clear that there is a violation of federal copyright law. Typically, the suits have been filed without warning. Righthaven rarely sends out notices telling Web sites to take down material that does not belong to them before seeking damages and demanding forfeiture of the Web domain name.

Defendants in these cases run the gamut. They have included the white supremacist David Duke, the Democratic Party of Nevada and Mr. Drudge. But little known Web sites, nonprofit groups and so-called mom-and-pop bloggers — people who blog as a hobby — are not exempt from Righthaven’s legal actions.

Buying Copyrights, Then Patrolling the Web for Infringement - NYTimes.com

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