Originally posted at NorthDecoder.com
Former Minot hardware store assistant manager and current fact-challenged, right-wing blogger Rob Port of Minot, North Dakota, has been sued for copyright infringement by an outfit called "Righthaven," which claims to own the copyright to a photo Port published on his website without first seeking permission. The photo was apparently originally owned by the Denver Post. Righthaven LLC is a company that buys or otherwise acquires copyright interests from photo owners, and then sues to enforce those rights when they've been violated.
Attorneys Natalie Hanlon-Leh and Spencer Ross of the firm Faegre & Benson LLP in Denver filed the counterclaim in behalf of Freedom Force Communications, [Port's]an Blog, Scott Hennen and Rob Port. They were sued Feb. 4 after the photo appeared on [Port's] Minot, N.D.-based [ ] website.
Righthaven, which sues over Las Vegas Review-Journal and Denver Post material, as usual in the lawsuit demanded $150,000 in damages and forfeiture of [Port's] website domain name. Righthaven since March 2010 has filed at least 249 copyright infringement lawsuits against website operators, bloggers and message board posters.
A Righthaven court exhibit indicates the Denver Post was not credited as the source of the photo in the Nov. 20 post on [Port's] Blog.
Las Vegas Sun
According to the Las Vegas Sun story, Port claims he didn't steal the Denver Post photo, but rather he borrowed it in order to "stimulate debate and foster discussion." If that's the case, that was probably the only time Port has ever intended to do "stimulate debate and foster discussion." Back when I used to occasionally look at his site, Port's usual objective always appeared to me to be generating income from page views and banner ads. Any time someone tried to offer a different (read: "rational" or "fact based") perspective on his site, they were promptly shouted down by Port or one of the other cheetoh-eating sock puppets on his site.
I've been told by a friend who looks at Port's site occasionally that the site, of late, has devolved into an advocacy site, primarily focusing on seeking tax breaks for impoverished (but record-profit-earning) oil companies. The site is apparently dominated by "Fix the Tax" banners, featuring photos of serial plagiarist (coincidence?) and former North Dakota Governor Ed Schafer. Much of Port's "original" content, they say, relates to the need for a more reliable stream of money to those poor oil companies and the barons who run them. I've been asked who paid Port off, and I -- obviously -- don't know.
Coincidentally, the law firm representing Hennen, Port and his blog in the Righthaven lawsuit is Koch Industries' preferred law firm of Faegre & Benson (click here, here and here for samples). Koch Oil is owned by Dave and Chucky Koch. The company is the largest privately-owned oil company in the United States, with some 70,000 employees and annual sales of $100 billion. Some folks have speculated that Koch Oil and/or its owners might be the money behind the "Fix the Tax" lobbying effort.
With that, it's almost enough to make you wonder if the Koch boys might be the money behind not just the pro-big-oil propoganda on Port's website, but alsod the defense in his lawsuit. The Koch money probably wouldn't be paid directly to Port, of course; it'd likely get laundered through Scott Hennen's Minnesota-based Public Relations company, Freedom Farce Communications, if that were the case.
It might be interesting to see how the case turns out if the Koch brothers don't just pay off Righthaven in a confidential settlement. Righthaven has been criticized for being an arm of the Las Vegas Review Journal, and for "shaking down" people whose use of copyrighted material is only sketchy. Unfortunately for Port, I personally know him to be a repeat copyright violater, as he's published a number of my photos without permission. But all I had to do to get him to take them down was to send him a cordial C&D letter and ask him to stop stealing my stuff. The hard part is that I only know he's doing it when people send me notes telling me they think they recognize one of my photos -- things like Dem-NPL convention photos -- on his site. It does get frustrating, but I haven't had to sue him yet.
It's also very interesting that Righthaven is seeking ownership of Port's domain name. They obviously don't know its value. With that domain name and about $10.00, a guy could probably buy a bowl of lobster bisque at the Bistro here in the North Dakota's capitol city.
Here is the Complaint in the lawsuit...
Complaint
Here's the original Denver Post story from which Port "borrowed" the photo...
Exhibit 3