Righthaven v. Eiser Lumbers Forward

The president-elect of LowCountry 9.12 first heard she was being sued not by being served papers, but by calls from national reporters. 

"It was, quite honestly, the biggest surprise in my life," Dana Eiser of Summerville said. 

On Dec. 2, Righthaven LLC filed documents in federal court to sue Eiser over copyright infringement. Eiser had recently been elected president of LowCountry 9.12 and had not yet taken on the leadership role.

The alleged copyright infringement was the group's use of a Denver Post story entitled "A letter to the Tea Partyers." The article originally appeared in the Denver Post on Sept. 23, and was reprinted to the LowCountry 9.12's Wordpress website on Sept. 23. 

Read the court documents here. (Page 11 shows the article that launched the lawsuit.)

Eiser was not the head of the group at the time the article ran, but the suit landed in her hands, personally. The lawsuit was not made with the organization, but with Eiser.

"I had just been elected as president (at the time of being served)," Eiser said. She did not assume leadership of the group until January. 

And, according to Eiser, Righthaven didn't own rights to the article until November. It had purchased the rights retroactively, she said.

No amount was attached to the lawsuit. However, Eiser said Righthaven typically sues for $150,000 plus attorney fees and damages.

Righthaven is involved in hundreds of copyright suits across the nation. Here is one of the many websites dedicated to tracking the company and its legal battles. 

According to Righthaven Lawsuits, many of the cases are settled out of court for a few thousand dollars, much less than what it would cost to hire an attorney to fight the suit. 

"There's not very many people who have fought them," Eiser said.

Even the Drudge Report found it easier to settle. 

But Eiser said she's a fighter. 

"It's just a matter of principle really," she said. "With the 9-12 movement, because of what we stand for, I felt the principle was really, really important."

Righthaven doesn't just sue conservative organizations. The company is in a suit now with Democratic Underground, which began out of protest of the legitimacy of President George W. Bush.

To fight, Eiser just needed to find the right attorney.

"We scrambled as a group, because we really didn't have the money to do this," Eiser said. "It was very hard to get representation."

But at a Charleston Tea Party meeting, Eiser found Todd Kincannon, an attorney who agreed to take up her case. Since December, LowCountry 9.12 has been fundraising to help offset the legal fees.

Kincannon began fighting Righthaven beyond the suit. On June 27, he filed a petition claiming Righthaven is abusing litigation practices, citing the Eiser suit as one example.

Kincannon is also preparing a class-action lawsuit for alleged victims of the company. 

In the last 30 days, Righthaven v. Eiser has stacked up a number of court documents, all normal in cases like these with claims and counter claims, according to Eiser. 

The case is slated to be heard in the federal court in downtown Charleston, but a date and time have not bee scheduled at this time. 

Summary of court documents with Righthaven v. Eiser

Dec. 2

Feb. 25

June 13

June 23

June 24

June 24

June 25

July 5

July 11

July 12

July 16 

These links are posted by an anti-Righthaven user known as rhvictims.

Curious about fair use and copyright?

United State Copyright Office on Fair Use.

Updated to clarify that Kincannon is not working the Eiser case pro bono.