Perez Hilton In "Mr. Britney" Pic Suit

MAY 17--For the fourth time in the last several months, the online gossip columnist Perez Hilton has been hit with a federal copyright lawsuit by a photographer who claims that his work has been published without permission by the blogger. In a U.S. District Court complaint, Ken Knight alleges that Hilton (real name: Mario Lavandeira) used a photo of Jason Alexander, Britney Spears's ex-husband, in a February 26 posting. The picture, which Knight snapped years before the January 2004 Alexander-Spears nuptials, accompanied a perezhilton.com posting in which Alexander recalled his alleged drug use with the pop star. In his May 11 lawsuit, a copy of which you'll find below, Knight charges that the 'business model' of Lavandeira's hugely popular site is 'based on a pattern of constant infringement' of copyrighted photographs. Lavandeira, 29, is a defendant in three other federal actions accusing him of improperly using copyright photos (which are often distributed by paparazzi agencies). Knight, who has previously sued the Associated Press, Dennis Publishing, and the E! television network over use of the Alexander picture, is seeking $300,000 in statutory damages from Lavandeira. Knight's attorney told TSG that Lavandeira ignored a legal letter sent after the Alexander photo was discovered on his site, which continues to carry the image. Due to the explosive growth (and influence) of his web site, Lavandeira has become a tort magnet. In fact, Knight even notes that Lavandeira was recently named PC World's 41st most influential person on the web and that his site averages three million daily unique visitors. (6 pages)