Hobby blogger sued by MediaNews & Righthaven is 20, chronically ill, autistic

[Newsjock]

Source: Westword

MediaNews Group's get-tough policy toward copyright protection has been led by Righthaven LLC, a Nevada firm whose Denver Post-related lawsuits have targeted the likes of Internet star Matt Drudge. Far less powerful is Brian D. Hill, a twenty-year-old hobby blogger on disability, who says he received no warning about unauthorized use of a Post photo and can't afford the $6,000 Righthaven told him he must pay to squash a suit against him.

According to BigMedia.org's Jason Salzman, Righthaven had filed thirty suits in federal court here in Colorado as of last week. Thus far, the Post hasn't kept readers abreast of this legal deluge, with the paper's editor, Greg Moore, telling Salzman "there's nothing to report. They are suing on our behalf those who infringe on our copyright."

... "A reporter from the Las Vegas Sun, Steve Green, sent me an e-mail and told me about the lawsuit, and he gave me a copy of the lawsuit," Hill notes. "At first, I didn't think it was real, but then I looked at the article and saw my name on there, and I found my name on the court docket site. And I thought, 'Oh my goodness, I'm being sued.'"

At that point, Hill immediately removed the photo, "and then me and my mom contacted Righthaven to try to reason with them. I told them I'm renting a house, so I don't own any property, and I'm on disability, so I really don't have any money for them to take."

Read more: http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2011/02/brian_hill_sued_medianews_group_righthaven.php

[sakabatou]

1. Righthaven: Fuck you kid, cough up the dough!

[Vinnie From Indy]

2. One wondershow the Denver Post subscribers will feel about this

if they were told that their local newspaper is in the business of stomping on 20yr old kids with disabilities.

[davidinalameda]

3. the guy is judgment proof

they can sue him all the want but they're not going to get a dime from him

doesn't sound like he's been served with the suit either

even if this would go to trial, any reasonable judge would toss it since the guy removed the photo after being informed that he was infringing

[Krakowiak]

4. oh man, it gets worse... he suspects Obama might be behind this

from the linked article:

"Why does Hill think Righthaven is suing him, as opposed to contacting him in advance and asking him to remove the photo, which he says he would have done? Money is one reason -- but after doing an Internet search and finding references like this one (link below) to Righthaven's alleged links to the Obama administration, he wonders if there is "a political reason" behind the cases."

link referenced above: http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message1144773/pg3


edited to add: Just to be clear, I am linking this because it is so unbelievably crazy to tie this in w/ Obama, not because I agree with the loons at GLP.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

6. Imagine that.

Both of the people who:
1) live in Chicago and
2) went to law school
know each other.

Socialist-mandated web shutdown in 4 ... 3 ... 2 ....

Thanks for the link to the tin foil hat-wearing teabag crowd.

[Buddyblazon]

5. This looks like a job for...

Anonymous.

[Dappleganger]

7. Fuck Righthaven.