And then there was this!
PEREZHILTON.COM
Lawsuits Mounting Against Celebrity Blogger
By John Kennedy
Winnipeg Free Press
Saturday April 28, 2007
Page C18
JUST days after being slapped with another copyright infringement lawsuit in the U.S., celebrity blogger Perez Hilton was hit again - this time only minutes after he landed in Sydney, Australia.
Jamie Fawcett of the PhotoNews agency served Hilton, whose real name is Mario Lavandeira, with a lawsuit Thursday evening at the arrivals area of Sydney airport. Lavandeira is in the city to attend the MTV Australia Video Music Awards on Sunday.
Fawcett filed papers on Tuesday alleging that Lavandeira posted an image of John Mayer and Jessica Simpson on PerezHilton.com without permission. He claims the photo was taken off People.com on April 1.
The lawsuit seeks roughloy C$4,200 in damages and fees from Lavandeira.
Fawcett says he plans to pursue further legal action against the controversial gossip guru in a higher court.
On April 23, five paparazzi agencies in the U.S. filed a multi-million dollar suit against Lavandeira at U.S. District Court in Los Angles. In the statement of claim - nearly 100 pages long - Splash, Bauer-Griffin, Flynet, INF and London Entertainment Pictures allege that Lavandeira unlawfully pulishes their copyright-protected photos without consent, payment or credit.
It lists 25 civil counts against the self-described "Queen of all Media" for copyright infringement, unfair competition by misappropriation of hot news, and civil conspiracy.
"Using someone else's only means of earning money to make yourself rich at their expense is most un-American," said Gary Morgan, CEO of Splash News in a release.
"Photographers work incredibly long hours quite often on a commission-only basis to earn their living and Perez's illegal use of the photos devalues their pictures in the legitimate celebrity magazine, TV ad online world."
The agencies are seeking more than US$7 million in damages as well as fees and legal costs. They also want a court to seize Lavandeira's profits and order him to remove all their images from PerezHilton.com.
"Perez Hilton is making a mockery of the copy-right laws in this country and all over the world, and it is now time for the U.S. legal system to recognize this and put a stop to it," said Chris Doherty, persident of INF.
Lavandeira is already defending himself against a US$7.6-million federal copyright infringement lawsuit filed late last year by California-based paparazzi agency X17 Inc. The suit alleges he used 51 photographs belonging to the agency without permission.
X17 aked the court to force Lavandeira to shut down PerezHilton.com until the lawsuit is resolved but last month a judge denied the request.
In early April, Canadian photo agency LDP Images threatened to sue Lavandeira for using some of its images on his site.
Lavandeira was not available to comment on the new legal action against him, but in an e-mail last December he told canada.com: "I will defend my rights and fredoms under the law vigorously in court. Not just for me but for all bloggers.
"All successful people get sued." This is par for the course. I will use this as an opportunity to turn a negative into a positive."
Lawsuits Mounting Against Celebrity Blogger
By John Kennedy
Winnipeg Free Press
Saturday April 28, 2007
Page C18
JUST days after being slapped with another copyright infringement lawsuit in the U.S., celebrity blogger Perez Hilton was hit again - this time only minutes after he landed in Sydney, Australia.
Jamie Fawcett of the PhotoNews agency served Hilton, whose real name is Mario Lavandeira, with a lawsuit Thursday evening at the arrivals area of Sydney airport. Lavandeira is in the city to attend the MTV Australia Video Music Awards on Sunday.
Fawcett filed papers on Tuesday alleging that Lavandeira posted an image of John Mayer and Jessica Simpson on PerezHilton.com without permission. He claims the photo was taken off People.com on April 1.
The lawsuit seeks roughloy C$4,200 in damages and fees from Lavandeira.
Fawcett says he plans to pursue further legal action against the controversial gossip guru in a higher court.
On April 23, five paparazzi agencies in the U.S. filed a multi-million dollar suit against Lavandeira at U.S. District Court in Los Angles. In the statement of claim - nearly 100 pages long - Splash, Bauer-Griffin, Flynet, INF and London Entertainment Pictures allege that Lavandeira unlawfully pulishes their copyright-protected photos without consent, payment or credit.
It lists 25 civil counts against the self-described "Queen of all Media" for copyright infringement, unfair competition by misappropriation of hot news, and civil conspiracy.
"Using someone else's only means of earning money to make yourself rich at their expense is most un-American," said Gary Morgan, CEO of Splash News in a release.
"Photographers work incredibly long hours quite often on a commission-only basis to earn their living and Perez's illegal use of the photos devalues their pictures in the legitimate celebrity magazine, TV ad online world."
The agencies are seeking more than US$7 million in damages as well as fees and legal costs. They also want a court to seize Lavandeira's profits and order him to remove all their images from PerezHilton.com.
"Perez Hilton is making a mockery of the copy-right laws in this country and all over the world, and it is now time for the U.S. legal system to recognize this and put a stop to it," said Chris Doherty, persident of INF.
Lavandeira is already defending himself against a US$7.6-million federal copyright infringement lawsuit filed late last year by California-based paparazzi agency X17 Inc. The suit alleges he used 51 photographs belonging to the agency without permission.
X17 aked the court to force Lavandeira to shut down PerezHilton.com until the lawsuit is resolved but last month a judge denied the request.
In early April, Canadian photo agency LDP Images threatened to sue Lavandeira for using some of its images on his site.
Lavandeira was not available to comment on the new legal action against him, but in an e-mail last December he told canada.com: "I will defend my rights and fredoms under the law vigorously in court. Not just for me but for all bloggers.
"All successful people get sued." This is par for the course. I will use this as an opportunity to turn a negative into a positive."
- CanWest News Service
Perez Hilton - Nice hair!
posted by Clare L. Pieuk at 4:25 PM
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