Copyright lawsuit filer Righthaven dealt legal blow

[The Buzz]

Copyright lawsuit filer Righthaven was informed Monday that it will not collect any damages from a man it said was a copyright infringer. Instead, the company will actually have to pay the man's legal fees, which come out to more than $34,000.

From Vegas Inc.

U.S. District Judge Philip Pro awarded the fees Monday in the case of Kentucky message board poster Wayne Hoehn.

Pro on June 20 dismissed Righthaven’s lawsuit against Hoehn, finding Righthaven didn’t have standing to sue him and even if it did, Hoehn was protected by the fair use doctrine in posting an entire Las Vegas Review-Journal column on a sports betting website message board. Righthaven's lack of standing was due to the R-J maintaining control of the column despite Righthaven's claims of ownership.

Righthaven is appealing the dismissal. But Pro, in the meantime, on Monday ordered Righthaven by Sept. 14 to pay Hoehn’s fees and costs for his representation by Randazza Legal Group of Las Vegas.