Rightscorp partners with law firm to wage copyright trolling war

In an act shocking absolutely nobody, Rightscorp, a company known for sending baseless threats and harassing phone calls in an attempt to turn people's ignorance into a revenue stream, is now partnering with a Massachusetts law firm to start serving a number of its claims.

Rightscorp was founded amid a wave of similar companies claiming to protect the intellectual property rights of movies, music and other products of the entertainment industry. An attorney working for the law​ firm now representing the company says of the company's mission that, "it's baffling to us that people still steal copyrighted content off the internet, given how easily available it is from places like iTunes, Netflix and Amazon.com." Whether the company actually seeks to protect these rights, or if it's yet another patent troll is hotly debated. Interesting to note, however, is that as much as companies like Rightscorp say they seek to fight infringement, their business' survival and profitability hinges on infringement not only existing, but being relatively commonplace.

The company is particularly known for sending out thousands of DMCA takedown notices to ISPs every month, going as far as appending a proposed settlement, which they claims offers alleged pirates an option to "pay off their debts." Attaching these proposals isn't how DMCA takedowns are normally fired, and most big name ISPs ignore that portion of the letter, instead forwarding just the notification to its subscribers.

Trying to strong arm and coerce every last person they can get their hands on apparently isn't enough for Rightscorp, as they're now trying to take any infringers ignoring the company's settlement requests to court.

In an announcement of this new strategy, Rightscorp CEO Christopher Sabec says that "under this agreement, we will be forwarding data on internet subscribers who have been sent Rightscorp notices and who have not accepted rights holders' offers of settlement."

It's worth noting that Rightscorp only has minimal identifying information for the would-be-pirates it's suing, deriving everything from IP addresses, which at best provide a tenuous connection between the defendant named in a suit and the actual infringement being taken to court. It's likely that going to trial isn't the company's real goal, but rather the means of getting people to actually agree to its demands, as many would-be violators wouldn't have the resources to survive a protracted lawsuit.

Rightscorp has been in the red for some time, and this new strategy can also be seen as a desperate attempt to bring in a more reliable revenue stream.

If you believe yourself to be the victim of patent trolling, it's important to contact a skilled business attorney as soon as possible. A lawyer can help protect your rights in case of litigation, and get you just compensation.

Categorised in: Intellectual Property Law

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