Las Vegas copyright infringement lawsuit filer Righthaven LLC’s financial problems grew Tuesday when the federal court in Las Vegas commanded the U.S. Marshals Service to seize more than $63,000 in Righthaven assets to satisfy a creditor’s judgment and costs.

Lance Wilson, clerk of the court, signed a writ of execution requested by attorneys for Wayne Hoehn, who was sued for copyright infringement by Righthaven — but then defeated Righthaven in court when his case was dismissed this summer.

Righthaven since March 2010 has filed 275 lawsuits against websites, bloggers and message board posters claiming they infringed on material from the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Denver Post by posting their content online without authorization.

The company’s litigation campaign stalled this summer after three suits were thrown out on fair use grounds and five judges in Nevada and Colorado ruled Righthaven lacked standing to sue because it didn’t control the newspaper copyrights it claimed to own.

Hoehn, a Kentucky message board poster, had posted a Review-Journal column on a sports betting website.

Righthaven said the no-warning suits against Hoehn and the other defendants were needed to deter rampant infringement of news content, but Hoehn’s attorneys said the suit against him was aimed at chilling Hoehn’s free speech rights.

After U.S. District Judge Philip Pro in Las Vegas dismissed Righthaven’s suit against Hoehn this summer on both fair use and standing grounds, he also ordered Righthaven to pay his $34,045.50 in legal fees to Randazza Legal Group of Las Vegas.

Righthaven has refused to pay and has said it faces bankruptcy if a creditor like Hoehn tries to seize its assets.

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http://www.vegasinc.com/news/2011/nov/01/marshals-ordered-seize-rig...