More on Perez Hilton Lawsuit: Papers Served, He Still Sucks
Perez Hilton may stand behind drunk driving - but a photo agency is finally getting in front of a lawsuit against the pompous celebrity blogger.
X17 Inc., a Los Angeles company known for its images of stars in personal or embarrassing moments, has officially filed a federal copyright infringement suit against Hilton.
The papers claim Perez used 51 photographs without permission, payment or credit on his tabloid site, including images of a pregnant Katie Holmes, Kevin Federline pumping gas and Britney Spears going commando.
The nerve of some bloggers.
"We've had trouble with a lot of bloggers," X17 co-owner Brandy Navarre told the Los Angeles Times for a story on its Web site. "But he's the biggest, and the most arrogant and pigheaded about it, frankly.
"He is stealing our images and costing us money every day," she said.
Perez, whose real name is Mario Lavandeira, is annoying and actually like Paris Hilton. He also said he believes he has done nothing illegal.
"I am going to vigorously defend myself," he said. "I am willing to step up to the plate and fight for my rights and fight for the rights of all bloggers."
His attorney, Bryan Freedman, said Hilton has a legal right to make satirical or humorous use of newsworthy photographs.
If the copyright lawsuit succeeds, "the effect would be to eliminate the ability to comment on and transform photographs under the fair-use exception to the Copyright Act," Freedman said.
Sounds like an important act to The Hollywood Gossip. But we don't need to alter images. Ashlee Simpson appears strung out all on her own.
December 18th, 2006 6:21 PM
If he doesn't do something before the court date and it does go to court, he'll lose. He's not parodying the people, he's presenting copyrighted photos on his site without paying for them or being given permission as you need to do by law. He is trying to say that Fair Use permits him to use without permission or payment, pictures that others have taken. Fair Use allows for people to use parts of a work when analyzing or criticizing the work itself, but he isn't analyzing the work (the picture), he's writing about the people in the pictures, which is a huge difference.
The four factors of Fair Use:
1. The Transformative Factor: The Purpose and Character of Your Use - perez 0, x17 1
2. The Nature of the Copyrighted Work - perez 0, x17 2 (as I understand it, perezhilton.com acquired and used some photos before they could be sold, thus making them useless to others)
3. The Amount and Substantiality of the Portion Taken - perez 0, x17 3
4. The Effect of the Use Upon the Potential Market - perez 0, x17 4
Total score - perez 0, x17 4 PEREZ LOSES!
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter9/index.html
And I don't understand why the media is doing such a poor job of presenting this - they have to defend and abide by Fair Use constantly. They should be able to explain this better.
April 25th, 2008 8:39 AM
Perez Hilton is a fucking douche bag!
May 7th, 2008 2:50 AM
Perez Hilton is a fatso!