Controversy over the copyright troll
23 August 2010
Fionn O'Raghallaigh, London
A Las Vegas company’s pursuit of websites that quote or link to content from news-industry clients has led critics to label it the copyright equivalent of a patent troll
But Steve Gibson, founder of the company Righthaven, denies the charge. "Effectively our customers are experiencing issues of their content being misappropriated," he told Managing IP.
Gibson says the company is merely challenging websites that link to or post part or some of one of its clients' articles.
Since filing its first case on behalf of the Stephens Media-owned Las Vegas Review Journal on March 13, Righthaven has chalked 100 cases on behalf of that client, according to sources. Gibson is adamant that it has a much larger stable of clients, and files copyright-infringement claims across the US and even Canada.
"We use technology that is somewhat fully automated, although we do...
Only subscribers have complete access to Managing Copyright,
log in or
subscribe now.
Alternatively take a
free trial, giving you 48-hour access to Managing Copyright (some articles and surveys may be excluded).
Subscribe Now
This article is available to subscribers. Please click subscribe to read the rest of the article.
Subscribe
Take a free trial
Please take a free 48-hour trial to gain limited access. Some articles and surveys may be excluded.
Take a free trial