RIAA and AAP File Amicus Briefs in Righthaven Appeal

The Association of American Publishers and the Recording Industry Association of America have decided to cozy up to a copyright troll, filing an amicus brief in the Ninth Circuit appeal of Righthaven v. Hoehn.  The Hoehn case is one of many decisions where a district court dismissed the case brought by copyright troll Righthaven. Indeed, Righthaven has lost on the merits every single time a court has considered its arguments (before six judges and counting). In Hoehn, the court correctly found both that Righthaven did not own the Las Vegas Review-Journal news article at issue and that his use was a fair use under copyright law. 

The AAP and RIAA do not weigh in on Righthaven's sham copyright assignment from Stephens Media, the publisher of the Review-Journal.  Rather, they devote their brief to civil proceedure, arguing it was error for the court to even consider whether the use was fair. They assert that the problem was "relying upon Righthaven ... to rebut the defendant's assertions" on market harm, instead of relying on Stephens Media, the true owner.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/12/riaa-and-aap-file-amicus-brief-righthaven-appeal