Liam Hemsworth has allegedly been sued for copyright infringement after posting a paparazzi photo of himself to his Instagram account while filming his recent movie, "Isn't It Romantic," according to documents obtained by E! News.
The Australian born actor, who recently split with his wife Miley Cyrus, has an estimated net worth of $26 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. The 29-year-old made a good fortune for himself from appearing in blockbuster hit The Hunger Games series, in which he played Gale Hawthorne.
According to the recent E! News report, Hemsworth posted the photo taken by a Splash News and Picture Agency photographer, who took a "series of photos depicting defendant Hemsworth performing an outdoor scene on location for production of the film 'Isn't It Romantic.'" The lawsuit alleges that Hemsworth's posting was "willful, intentional and malicious." E! News reported that Hemsworth could end up paying up to $150,000 in damages.
"Hemsworth or someone acting on his behalf again posted the Photograph to Hemsworth's Instagram Story twice on June 20, 2019," the documents state. "That same day, there was a swipe-up feature on his Instagram story to encourage people to vote for the movie Isn't It Romantic for the Teen Choice Movie Awards."
"Plaintiff is informed and believes and on that basis alleges that defendant's acts of copyright infringement, as alleged above, were willful, intentional, and malicious, which further subjects defendants to liability for statutory damages under Section 504(c)(2) of the Copyright Act in the sum of up to $150,000 per infringement," the documents continued. "Within the time permitted by law, plaintiff will make its election between actual damages and statutory damages."
Singer Katy Perry is facing a similar lawsuit after posting a paparazzi photo to Instagram, in which she is seen completely transformed into Hillary Clinton for a Halloween costume party. The photo also shows a friend of Perry dressed as Bill Clinton.
The lawsuit against Perry was filed by Backgrid, the photo agency that owns the rights to the image. The agency sued Perry for $150,000, claiming the singer had been contacted multiple times between 2017 to as recently as early October about her use of the photo.
