Blogger Sued By Paparazzi For $7.6 Million
Blogger Perez Hilton is being sued for copyright infringement for using 51 celebrity pics without the permission of the paparazzi photo agency who own them. At issue is whether the blogger can “borrow” the pics under the fair use exception, alter the pics to make a point, and post them on his site. From biting commentary on Mary-Kate Olsen’s latest hairdo to the misadventures of Britney Spears, Hilton pulls no punches.
Although I’ll be personally rooting for the blogger to win this battle, legal precedent suggests the courts are going to side with the copyright owner.
However, this case raises a larger issue. Like RIAA and MPAA battling P2P file sharing, the photo agency is fighting a losing battle in the long run. Even if Hilton loses, somewhere in Eastern Europe or Asia there are dozens of replacement bloggers ready to meet the demand for this content…posting to the Internet from locations beyond the reach of U.S. intellectual property law. The paparazzi need to find a way to profit share in joint ventures with domestic bloggers like Hilton to adapt to online media trends.
Hat tip to Robin Abcarian at the L.A. Times.
About the Author
With an advanced international law degree from Georgetown University and more than 15 years of real world legal experience, Attorney Mike Young is President of the Internet Ethics Council and creator of Website Legal Forms Generator software. He helps entrepreneurs protect and grow their businesses online.
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This portion is what makes me side with the complaining party:
“Hilton, he said, “is basically free-riding on the labor and efforts of X17 and its photographers who stay up all night and roam the city, and he simply right-clicks and posts their photos.”
It’ll be interesting to see how the law might possibly be “amended” if the blogger wins this one instead.
Update: Looks like Hilton is getting swamped by litigation – 4 lawsuits by 8 photo agencies plus his web host just dumped him. Hollywood is out to destroy him.