Splash News & Picture Agency v. Lavandeira [1]

In April 2007, five paparazzi photography agencies sued Mario Lavandeira, operator of popular celebrity gossip blog, perezhilton.com, in federal district court in California for allegedly posting their photographic images on his blog without permission. The complaint alleges copyright infringement, unfair competition under the "hot news" misappropriation theory recognized by the Supreme Court in International News Service v. Associated Press [2], 248 U.S. 215 (1918), and civil conpsiracy under California law. In May 2007, Lavandeira filed an answer without moving to dismiss.

Update:

4/24/2008 - Court granted Lavandeira's motion to amend [3] answer.

12/12/2008 - Action appears to have settled.  Parties filed a stipulation of dismissal [4].