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Perez Hilton Sued for Copyright Infringement (Photo Theft)

Always classy Perez Hilton has been sued by photographer Robert Caplin for copyright infringement and and DMCA violation. Caplin alleges that Hilton took screengrabs of his photos and published them on his site without paying for them. According to photoshelter Caplin contacted Perez Hilton and asked him to please take the photos down. Perez Hilton said he would, didn’t and then Caplin hired an attorney and sued.

You really should read the whole story at photoshelter. Every blogger knows that there are four ways to get a photo on your site.

  • Take the photo yourself
  • License a photo someone has taken (license is fancy-speak for pay money)
  • Find copyright free material
  • Find creative commons licensed photos

There isn’t a fifth way to get your photos. It just doesn’t exist.

Mario Armando Lavandeira, Jr. (Perez Hilton) is no stranger to copyright controversy.

I interviewed Perez Hilton in April of 2012 and asked him very specifically about copyright issues.

It’s long, and frankly it’s tedious. My questions start at 16 minutes in and I wanted to know how he dealt with the backlash after he allegedly stole content from Shit White Girls Say.

At 17:30 I ask him about copyright issues and his advice is to, “Do what you think is right at the moment.”

His publicist didn’t like me.

Shocking.

3 thoughts on “Perez Hilton Sued for Copyright Infringement (Photo Theft)”

  1. Great article. I wish every blogger knew those 4 ways to get a photo. I love when people take my photos for their businesses and say, well it was on the internet so that means I can use it. This will be interesting to see what happens. I don’t think it will change how Perez works though.

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