Media Crusader Looks to Copyright Lawsuits to Help Save Industry
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Do you have permission to reprint that article? You might consider checking again. Steve Gibson, CEO of Righthaven, is buying out the copyrights to newspaper content and then suing bloggers and other websites for infringement, reports Wired. Content is the media's greatest asset and it needs protection, argues Gibson. He told Wired he believes there are millions--possibly billions--of copyright violations lurking on the Web.
Gibson’s vision is to monetize news content on the backend, by scouring the internet for infringing copies of his client’s articles, then suing and relying on the harsh penalties in the Copyright Act — up to $150,000 for a single infringement — to compel quick settlements. Since Righthaven’s formation in March, the company has filed at least 80 federal lawsuits against website operators and individual bloggers who’ve re-posted articles from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, his first client.
But there are skeptics out there who believe Gibson's big plan has holes, Wired reports. Because the suits so far appear to claim only one or a few infringements, defendants may be less likely to settle, Jonathan Band, a Washington, D.C. copyright lawyer, told Wired. That could translate to a lot of work for little return.
In any case, it's certainly a unique approach as the industry continues to try to redefine itself and experiment with new models to preserve the integrity of the Fourth Estate. If he's successful, perhaps we'll also see a step towards taming the Wild West Web, and a renewed appreciation for original content.
(Image credit: MikeBlogs; C.C. 2.0)
