Righthaven Suits: Who Could Be Next?

With word that Righthaven has filed suit against the Angle campaign, the question arises what other political campaigns may be targets. Campaigns are famous/infamous for capturing media articles about their candidates and posting them on their own sites - sometimes in whole, sometimes excerpting parts, nearly always with attribution but often without a link to the original.

Shelley Berkley's re-election campaign has posted, in its entirety and without a link to the original, an endorsement she received from Las Vegas CityLife, a Stephens Media, LLC publication. The relevant page on the Berkley campaign's website is here. CityLife's endorsement on their website is here.

I have emailed the Berkley campaign asking if they obtained permission from CityLife, Stephens Media or Righthaven to publish this endorsement or if they have received notice that they are in violation of copyright for reprinting it. I will report any response I receive.

I am not a Berkley supporter, although I have to admit that she delighted my then-infant daughter when she was at a nearby table at Macaroni Grill a few years ago. But the reason I mention this is not to put a target on her campaign but to point 0ut the potential absurdity of these types of lawsuits.

As reported earlier, Righthaven has sued the Angle campaign for, twice, reproducing in their entirety an article from a Stephens Media publication. In this instance the Berkley campaign has done precisely the same thing. Therefore, one would think the same standard should apply.

But here is the absurdity. A campaign could receive an endorsement from a publication and then be sued by that same publication for printing the endorsement on its website.