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US Judge Slams Copyright Troll For Using His Court "Like an ATM"

posted by Fnord666 on Sunday November 25 2018, @09:40PM   Printer-friendly
from the sudden-outbreak-of-common-sense dept.

upstart writes:

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984

US Judge Slams Copyright Troll For Using His Court "Like an ATM" - TorrentFreak

A judge in the U.S. has issued one of the most scathing opinions ever seen in a copyright troll case. In response to an early discovery request by porn troll Strike 3 Holdings, Judge Royce C. Lamberth describes the plaintiff as a "cut-and-paste" serial litigant whose lawsuits "smack of extortion". The company runs away at the first sign of a defense, he added, while noting his court is being used "as an ATM".

[...] Going on to criticize Strike 3 for filing 1,849 cases in the past thirteen months, including 40 in his district, Judge Lamberth says that such serial litigants prey on low-hanging fruit then run away at the first sign of resistance.

"They don't seem to care about whether defendant actually did the infringing, or about developing the law. If a Billy Goat Gruff moves to confront a copyright troll in court, the troll cuts and runs back under its bridge," he writes.

"Perhaps the trolls fear a court disrupting their rinse-wash-and-repeat approach: file a deluge of complaints, ask the court to compel disclosure of the account holders; settle as many claims as possible; abandon the rest."

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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by Mykl on Sunday November 25 2018, @11:54PM (3 children)

    by Mykl (1112) on Sunday November 25 2018, @11:54PM (#766315)

    It would be better if this guy were to be declared a Vexatious Litigant. That way he needs the court's permission to bring any claim. According to Wikipedia, the only US state supporting this is California - perhaps the other states need to take a look?

    I'd also look at disbarring any lawyers who agree to be part of this shakedown.

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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Mykl on Monday November 26 2018, @04:54AM

    by Mykl (1112) on Monday November 26 2018, @04:54AM (#766371)

    Oops, skimmed too quickly. It appears that there are 5 US states [wikipedia.org] with Vexatious Litigation legislation - California, Florida, Hawaii, Ohio, and Texas. 45 to go!

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 26 2018, @05:29AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 26 2018, @05:29AM (#766373)

    What if you really are the constant victim of infringement?
    And is Sony a vexatious litigant yet?

    • (Score: 2) by sjames on Monday November 26 2018, @06:50AM

      by sjames (2882) on Monday November 26 2018, @06:50AM (#766383) Journal

      If you really are a constant victim, you won't meet the criteria for vexatious litigant.