DENVER—A Nevada law firm that targets the unauthorized use of news content on the Internet has filed 32 lawsuits in federal court in Colorado seeking to stop the unlawful use of a Denver Post photograph.
The lawsuits filed by Las Vegas-based Righthaven LLC allege various websites have used without authorization the photo of a Transportation Security Administration agent patting down a passenger at an airport security checkpoint. Defendants are in several states and include a disabled man in North Carolina and former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.
The lawsuits are being closely watched by news companies struggling to protect their content as more people rely on the Web for news and traditional ad revenue in printed newspapers dwindles.
Righthaven acquires copyrights to online content then files suits.
