Celebrity Gossip Blogger Perez Hilton Served $7.5 Million Copyright Suit

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 1, 2006 - 1:00pm.

Los Angeles - Celebrity gossip blogger Mario Lavandeira (a.k.a. Perez Hilton) has been sued for copyright infringement by celebrity photo agency X17, which is seeking $7.5 million in damages.

Los Angeles-based X17 claims that Lavandeira knowingly and willfully used X17's images of celebrities on his blog without permission. A number of other photo agencies are also reportedly considering filing suit.

"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 said in a statement.

The company claims that Lavandeira sells weekly ads on PerezHilton.com for between $9,000 and $16,000. Lavandeira has said that PerezHilton.com counts 2.5 million unique daily users.

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/y6bmjd
http://x17online.com
http://www.perezhilton.com