Civil Liberties

Perez Hilton Hates Sharing the Spotlight


I hate sharing the spotlight

It seems that even bloggers who routinely skirt the Digital Millenium Copyright Act have a place in their hearts for intellectual property rights. Mario Lavandeira, the founder and host of is suing Elizabeth Silver-Fagan, the founder and host of, for "cybersquatting and deceptive trade practices," according to Joseph Menn at the Los Angeles Times.

While there may be some small, innocuous truth to the deception claim (both sites ooze hot pink graphics), isn't cybersquatting on From Nolo:


The folks at seem to be using their space, rather than holding it for ransom. They also have a slightly different business model, in that they steal photos, report celebrity journalism, and attack Lavandaeira's site, rather than just steal photos and draw semen on them. And by attacking Lavandeira's site, they're supplementing—not replacing—his product, and possibly even driving traffic his way.

Regardless, Lavandeira claims the following in his suit (full pdf):

[The] Defendants deceive the public and create the impression that emanates from, originates from, is associated with and/or is otherwise endorsed by Lavandeira which results in lost sales and severe damage to Lavandeira's reputation and goodwill.

Damage to his reputation and goodwill? The semen guy? The one with the blue/blond/strawberry hair? Seriously? Lavandeira doesn't have an ethical leg to stand on. His job entails pirating other people's work and then begging them not to sue him. His copyright page says as much:


Where, then, does Lavandeira get off suing someone for doing to his work what he does to the works of hundreds of celebrity photographers? I wouldn't be surprised if it came out that this was a way for Lavandeira to boost traffic to his site ("Perez Hilton Admits Lawsuit Attempt Slutty and Silly"). Publicity stunt or no, I'm crossing my fingers that his attempt at abusing the court system to stifle a competitor comes back and bites him in the ass, much as it did Violet Blue when Boing Boing secretly took down all her guest posts and links after the supposedly anti-DMCA Blue sued an up and coming porn star for "stealing" her totally original name.