Gossip blogger, Perez Hilton, whose real name is Mario Lavandeira, is fighting lawsuits by paparazzi and others who claim he posts their photos and video content on his site without permission, according to The Wall Street Journal (paid sub. req.).
His web site routinely posts tabloid photos of celebrities and adds scribbled commentary and rudimentary doodles. Mr. Lavandeira defends his actions, saying his commentary constitutes “fair use” and is protected by copyright law.
Bryan J. Freedman, Mr. Lavandeira’s lawyer, said, “Perezhilton.com stands by its commitment to protect the freedom of people to transform content on the internet for the purpose of commentary and satire and unquestionably believes that it comports with the fair use exception.”
Los Angeles photo agency X17 Inc. sued Mr. Lavandeira in federal court last year, asking for $7.6 million in damages. Unsuccessful in that attempt, X17 persuaded the Australian Web hosting company Crucial Paradigm to shut down Lavandeira’s site, but that ploy didn’t work for long. After a brief downtime yesterday, the site has a new host–BlogAds–and is now up again.
