Pop Crunch

Perez Hilton Sued Over Topless Jennifer Aniston Flick

February 22nd, 2007 by Castina

Tagged as: Perez Hilton

The self-proclaimed “Queen Of All Media” is in hot water….AGAIN.

Universial Studios sued celebrity-gossip monger Perez Hilton on Tuesday for copyright infringement. P.H is accused of posting a swiped picture starring Jennifer Aniston’s biddies shot during production or postproduction of 2006′s “The Break-Up.”

The scene didn’t end up in the final cut of the antiromantic comedy, which grossed more than $118 million at the box office last summer during reports of a real-life hookup between Aniston and costar Vince Vaughn.

Universal City claims Perez “misappropriated and illegally copied,” according to court documents obtained by the Smoking Gun, and that Hilton “illegally obtained a copy of all or part of the stolen footage.”

Perez, who was born Mario Lavandeira, allegedly disregarded a letter sent earlier this month requesting that he take down the offending footage and continued to display the racy shot, Universal states in its complaint.

According to its complaint, Universal is seeking unspecified damages; an injunction barring any further use of the studio’s copyrighted material, be it photos, videos, Internet content or, well, anything; and a seizure order allowing the U.S. Marshals to impound any items “possessed, owned or under the control of Defendants…and all persons in active concert or participation with them” that infringe the studio’s copyrights, as well as any business records related to the obtainment of said items.

Perez’s people say that the picture was just as available for viewing on other Websites, and that because Hilton published the picture “for the purpose of commentary and satire,” his actions constitute fair use.

“It is unfortunate that Universal has chosen to bring this lawsuit as our client has done nothing wrong,” attorney Bryan Freedman said in a statement obtained by E! Online, adding that the brazen blogger did take the Aniston picture down when he finally learned of Universal’s request.

“Apparently, Universal’s notice was sent somewhere in Arizona rather than to our client directly, and when our client received direct notice, in good faith, our client removed the picture notwithstanding the right to the fair use of the photograph.

“Our client questions whether this lawsuit was in fact motivated by Ms. Aniston as a result of her disdain for viewpoints expressed about her on the site,” the lawyer continued, referring to the fairly catty tone Hilton, 28, generally takes when commenting on the former Friends star, going so far as to refer to her as “Maniston.”

“Otherwise, there seems to be no reason to single our client out when, as Universal and Ms. Aniston know, the picture was published on numerous Websites before any publication on our client’s site,” he said.

This is the second lawsuit in less than a year filed against P.H.

Celebrity photo agency X17 has filed a $7.5 million copyright suit against Hilton, accusing him of using its images without permission, a complaint that the Miami native has said is just one more opportunity to make his point via the justice system.

“I believe at the core of my being that I’m not doing anything illegal or unethical. They have their points, and I have my points, so I guess the only way to decide this is through the legal system,” Hilton, who was also sued by the New York Post at one point because he used to call his site PageSixSixSix, told a reporter for McClatchy Newspapers earlier this month.




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