Celebrity-gossip blogger was sued Tuesday by the Universal Studio for copyright infringement, accusing Hilton of posting a stolen topless picture of Jennifer Aniston that was shot and then swiped either during production or post-production of 2006's The Break-Up.
The scantily clad shot of Aniston, 38, didn't end up in the final cut of the anti-romantic comedy, which grossed more than $118 million at the box office last summer amid reports of a real-life hookup between Aniston and costar Vince Vaughn.
Universal City Studios Productions alleges that the shot posted on perezhilton.com was "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."
The blog purveyor, whose real name is Mario Lavandeira, then 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.
Hilton's legal camp is saying, however, 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.
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.
Jennifer Aniston is no stranger to being caught with her top down, either.
The actress, who recently vouched for the authenticity of her cleavage in an interview with People, reached an undisclosed settlement with photographer Peter Brandt last September in an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit she filed against the paparazzo in 2005, accusing him of using a telephoto lens to snap her inside her home while she was partly undressed.
Brandt maintains that he took his photos while standing on a public street at least 300 yards away from Aniston's home.
