It was inevitable, and probably inevitable that it would happen this way. Courtesy of a Google News search, here is the story:
(Los Angeles, CA) - He makes his living throwing dirt at a bevy of Hollywood celebrities, and now, a top celebrity photo agency is throwing some of that dirt back at gay blogger Perez Hilton. Hilton is being sued by photo agency X17, and according to Access Hollywood, seven other celebrity photo agencies are also considering filing suit.
X17 filed suit against Perez (whose real name is Mario Lavendeira) on Friday, claiming the blogger, who’s dubbed himself the ’Queen of All Media,’" knowingly and willfully used X17’s images on his blog without permission from the agency, thereby violating federal law.
"Mr. Lavandeira has regularly infringed on X17’s large scoops," the agency said in release, according to Entertainment Tonight. "While it usually takes weeks of effort by a team of photographers and reporters to break a story, for Mr. Lavandeira, it has been as simple as a right-click."
X17 is seeking more than $7.5 million dollars in damages from the blogger for what they say is a loss of profits and injury to their reputation. While readers can visit PerezHilton.com for free, the site makes money off of advertising, Access Hollywood reported.
"Mr. Lavandeira is profiting through advertisements on his site (one-week ads on his site go for between $9000 - $16,000) and has gained relative fame from the success of his blog, which, X17 contends, is due in large part to the quality and quantity of celebrity images he posts on his site, many of which are owned by X17," the release stated.
Hilton works out of a Los Angeles coffee shop he calls his office, according to reports, and is currently tapped to appear on VH-1’s upcoming Big in ’06 Awards and on MTV’s New Year’s Eve special.
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5 comments:
Blooger? Is that what they mean by tarnishment?
What I was envying was his possible advertising revenue. Its tough being virtuous but poor.
You say "blooger," I say "blogger." Let's call the whole thing off.
Sounds like this Perez guy is in a lot of trouble!! A great way to get customers and profit for you online business through this great resource that uses Email Advertising
Of course, the case would be more interesting if the site used in-line links, rather than making copies and posting them on its own servers. Whether in-line linking infringes any exclusive rights is one of the key issues being considered by the Ninth Circuit in the pending Perfect 10 v. Google appeal. The issue was abortively considered in the Kelly v. Arriba Soft case, but the court ultimately withdrew its discussion.
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