A Las Vegas federal judge has sanctioned copyright troll Righthaven to the tune of $5,000 for making misrepresentations to the court.

U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt of Nevada last month ordered Righthaven to explain why Hunt should not sanction it for trying to “manufacture standing.” (.pdf) Standing is a legal concept that has enabled Righthaven to bring about 200-plus lawsuits over copyrighted articles and photos owned by news agency Stephens Media.

Judge Hunt, ruling from the bench Thursday, said Righthaven basically tried to pull the wool over the court’s eyes.

“The court finds those representations are not true and that they are intentional,” Hunt said, according to an account in VegasINC.

In all its lawsuits, Righthaven, which uses a loophole in copyright law to sue blogs and others for infringement, claims ownership of the copyright material even though judge Hunt found that it is not the real owner.

Judge Hunt’s ruling was part of a case in which the judge had ruled Righthaven did not have standing to bring a copyright lawsuit against the Democratic Underground blog for allegedly pilfering four paragraphs from a 34-paragraph story published by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which is owned by Stephens Media.

Hunt noted that Righthaven and Stephens Media had agreed to share the proceeds of any damages awards or settlements — but Stephens Media kept ownership of the copyright. Yet in each of the cases Righthaven brought on behalf of  Review-Journal articles, Righthaven never disclosed, as required, whether third parties had a “pecuniary interest” in the outcome.

Several other Righthaven cases have been dismissed for the same reason, and dozens of bloggers who settled with Righthaven are mulling their legal options.

An internal agreement between Righthaven and Stephens Media had given the Review-Journal’s owner and Righthaven each a 50 percent stake in any settlements or verdicts. The accord said Stephens Media shall retain “an exclusive license to exploit the Stephens Media assigned copyrights for any lawful purpose whatsoever and Righthaven shall have no right or license to exploit or participate in the receipt of royalties from the exploitation of the Stephens Media assigned copyrights other than the right to proceeds in association with a recovery.”

The agreement has been amended twice, and is still the subject of court challenges.

Shawn Mangano, Righthaven’s attorney, told Judge Hunt in a legal filing that the firm did not believe it was necessary to disclose the financial link. He told VegasINC he was considering appealing.

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