Liam Hemsworth sued for using paparazzi pic to promote film
A celebrity photography agency has filed a copyright infringement suit against Liam Hemsworth, claiming the Australian actor used one of its photographs without a licence to promote a new film.
In its complaint, filed on Sunday, December 15 at the US District Court for the Central District of California, Splash News and Picture Agency said Hemsworth had posted a picture of himself on the set of the film “Isn’t It Romantic” on his Instagram page without authorisation.
Splash News, a celebrity and breaking news agency which licences its photographs and videos to publishers, said the photograph in dispute is protected by a copyright registration at the US Copyright Office.
The photograph was allegedly posted to Hemsworth’s account on July 15, 2018, ahead of the film’s release in February 2019.
“Hemsworth never licensed the image … but has used, and continues to use, the photograph without authorisation or permission,” the filing said.
The agency also took issue with the tags on the image, which led users to the Instagram account for the film.
Additionally, it said Hemsworth had also posted the image to his Instagram story twice, adding a swipe up feature to encourage his 13 million followers to vote for the movie for the American Teen Choice Movie Awards.
Splash News said it regularly licences its photographs to publishers, such as the Daily Mail, and stood to gain financial profit from the photograph.
It said Hemsworth’s posts harm the existing market and future market for the image.
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