Righthaven Loses MTD

Everyone's favorite bluetool lost a Motion to Dismiss on Tuesday based upon the application of fair use doctrine - the first of what will hopefully be many in his overzealous copyright suit-o-rama.

The attorney who handed Gibson the loss was Sergio Salzano of Lynch, Hopper & Salzano, LLP. U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks was presiding.

Although the court dismissed Righthaven’s claims, Salzano and Gibson reached a confidential settlement based upon "other potential infringements."

(LV Sun; Thanks Tipsters!)

Gibson 2.0

Things aren't looking good for the man who makes Nevada's lowest bottom-feeding attorneys look like crusaders of justice.

First, the Electronic Frontier Foundation joined the fight, signing on to represent the Democratic Underground LLC in one of the high-profile Righthaven lawsuits.

Then, newly-appointed U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro set aside one of Gibson's many default judgments, finding that the "implied license" defense may have some merit:

"The defendant has reasonably asserted that the plaintiff’s conduct may have constituted an implied license and that the defendant may have properly inferred that the (copyright) owner consented to the use, especially in light of the established and accepted custom of users freely and openly sharing certain information posted on the Internet."

Not a good week to be sporting a gigantic bluetooth headset.

(LV Sun)