Perez Hilton: Media Scapegoat or Huge Drama Queen?
It seems that celebrity "gangstaR" Perez Hilton (real name Mario Lavandeira) is being sued again according to this report in The Smoking Gun. This time for posting an "allegedly" stolen photo of Jennifer Aniston's breasts. The photo (when I saw it), appeared to be scanned from a magazine, was cut from the film "The Break-Up," a 2006 comedy which Aniston starred in with then boyfriend, Vince Vaughn.
The images were never meant to be seen and the Universal Pictures lawsuit against Lavandeira is seeking an "injunction barring further distribution of the picture and requests a court order 'directing the U.S. Marshall to seize' the copyrighted material from the blogger." No monetary damages are being sought, which makes me wonder why exactly they are bothering with a lawsuit. The cat's already out of the bag, or the bra in this case.
Unless, of course, they are trying to make a point. Aniston has been viciously targeted by Lavandeira many times and he's not so playfully dubbed her "Maniston." My guess it was more a bitchslap than anything- which is amusing in any case. I remember seeing the original picture on Perez's site and he never said where he got it from, but I doubt he snuck in all Mission Impossible:2 style and stole it. Most likely it was passed on to him under nefarious circumstances.
To be honest, what celebrity writer wouldn't post a picture like that? We're all dirty rotten scoundrels.
He was also being sued by photo agency X17 Online for copyright infringement, and supposedly at one time, Colin Farrell was suing him for posting a link to a sex tape online featuring the actor. Lavandeira claims he is permitted to post these images as they fall under a statute or doctrine contained within our own copyright laws, often referred to as "fair use." It's a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo, but essentially it means if it's in the public domain and you are applying it within the context of free speech, then you can use it. Or not. I am not a lawyer so don't use my words as some sort of legal argument if you get arrested.
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