UPDATE: Dionne Choyce is currently appealing the decision on fees. Written arguments have been filed with the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Parties are awaiting a response.

On November 3, United States District Judge Jon S. Tigar awarded legal fees of over $87,000 to the open-publishing news website Indybay and internet service provider Layer42 after dismissing an "objectively baseless" lawsuit filed by Bay Area attorney Dionne Choyce. Indybay is represented pro bono by Roger R. Myers, Leila C. Knox and Jessica Mar of Bryan Cave LLP, who will be redistributing any and all fee payment made by Dionne Choyce to 501(c)(3) organizations. Layer42 is represented by Daniel L. Casas and Anthony F. Basile of Casas Riley & Simonian LLP. Dionne Choyce is represented by Spencer F. Smith and Dow W. Patten of Smith Patten. The case is Choyce v. San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center et al., case number 3:13-cv-01842, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Courthouse News writes: Dionne Choyce sued San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center and its Internet service provider Layer42.net in 2012. Choyce claimed the Media Center posted defamatory comments about him on its aggregate news site, Indybay.org. He also claimed the organization broke copyright laws by publishing one of his images without permission. Specifically, Choyce said Indybay posted a page titled "Attorney Dionne Choyce, who embezzled from homeless, may serve prison time," and another one: "The Choyce Law Firm evicted from building." Choyce claimed that Layer42.net shared responsibility with the Media Center for publishing false information. U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar dismissed Choyce's claims with prejudice, citing the Media Center's right to free speech and calling Choyce's copyright claim "objectively baseless."

Read More | Washington Post: $85,000 fees award against lawyer-plaintiff for frivolous copyright suit | Court Documents