My Response to the LA Times Article:

images u work hard to get

u mean how u harass britneys spears and delibrately zoom into her privates and then acts like she showed it to u!!! talk about invasion of privacy...see i would feel for x17 as i hate perez even more....get one thing right.TREAT BRITNEY GOOD AND U WILL HAVE OUR SUPPORT. DONT underestimate her fan support on the web...all it takes is one thred and i can get 100's of ppl here complaining what u do to britney. how about u been nice to her when u see her like she is with u...she does never be evil to ur paps like lets say justin and cameron

2007 the year BRITNEYS

Perez DOES rule. Brandy, you're an alcoholic, and you can barely come up with a proper English sentence. You're childish, and wasting your time, and money.

IS IT OK TO STALK CELEBRITIES....IS THAT LEGAL?

regardless of the "newsworthiness" of the photos that are being taken of celebrities, i totally agree with you on the fact that what he's doing is copyright infringement. if one blogger is allowed to circumvent the rules, then who are we to say who has to follow the rules?

The way your photographers stalk and harrass celebrities is disguting, but Perez Hilton is wrong to steal images. If Perez was a news blogger and was taking images from the LA Times website, you know they too would sue his ash.

We support you X17 !!!!!

No one has the right to steal someone else's property.

Like I read earlier, the only reason i know about this web page is because of Perez Hilton.

Your we page is ok, but, its boring and it lacks. Photos can only do so much for your web page because it has no juice or intensity or comedy. it lacks!

GO perez!!

Didn't you realize when you were interviewed that the journalist was going to spin the story one way or another? For a photo agency that deals with plenty of news agencies, it's amazing how blind you can be to obvious journalism techniques. Articles like these are the reason for the phrase "no comment." You got yourself into this mess.

if u wanted that article person to be fair to x17 over perez i think u should have not criticised their grammer!!! bad move!!!

also u all deserve the crap...harassing celebs and writing crap about them. u deserve no sympathy. your just as bad as perez.

did you ever think that one of YOUR OWN PHOTOGRAPHERS has a deal with perez!??!?!? HELLOOOO?! WAKE UP!!! he gets the photos before you even post them? you should be looking for bad links in your own chain first - then address perez. but sniff out your own rat first. DUH!!!! if he's getting it from one of your photogs whom he has a deal with, then is he still stealing from "you"? ......

Brandy, you and X17 rule. Get Perez! I completly agree with you and your case against Perez. Continue the great work you do. I really enjoy your site...and comments.

I think that your lawsuit is bogus. Half of the time Perez has similar pictures on his website before you even put them up. He has said many times, that paparazzi personally send him some of their photos. Seeing as how there are twenty of ya'll surrounding a celebrity at one time you are pretty likely to get similar photos. Plus, everything that Perez writes is out of humor and nothing more. You write mean things about the pictures of the celebrities that you post, trying to start mean rumors. The lawsuit is completely ludacris.

Who are you to criticise REAL journalists? Seriously.

I think that your lawsuit is bogus. Half of the time Perez has similar pictures on his website before you even put them up. He has said many times, that paparazzi personally send him some of their photos. Seeing as how there are twenty of ya'll surrounding a celebrity at one time you are pretty likely to get similar photos. Plus, everything that Perez writes is out of humor and nothing more. You write mean things about the pictures of the celebrities that you post, trying to start mean rumors. The lawsuit is completely ludacris. I didn't even bother to read the whole letter, because within the first two sentences it was obvious you have a case on nothing, and I bet that who ever you are sending the letter to will not even bother to read it.

oh, and as an aside.... i don't know how your contracts are written up with your photgraphers, but in my experience (as a photographer and designer), the photos belongs first and foremost to the artist (photog) himself. if that photographer then chooses to sell that photo to perez hilton AND X17, then essentially you have no grounds for your case.... once again, i'm not aware of what is written in your contracts, but i doubt you purchased your photographers' cameras, etc for them.... and aren't you essentially 'contracting out' work to them? making their photos their own property which they choose to sell, etc?

Well, at least Perez's attorney has tipped his hand now. He's going to claim fair use as it relates to satire and parody. No wonder he no longer posts a single undoctored photo.

your job and living is based on stealing the privacy of celebrities. now perez is stealing the pics from you. its the circle of life bitches. you are stupid enough to be in the business, so deal with it

your right, the fag is wrong

u guys are perfect for each other...scum vs. scum...let's hope you wipe each other out...the planet will be a much better place...

i used to like this site, but lately the only posts are on britney, paris, and lindsey. so boring... *yawn*... i used to check this site before i would go to perez's, but now I like his site WAY MORE. It's funny, plain and simple. And he makes posts about more celebs than the previously mentioned. He is just commenting on the pics, not trying to say they are his own. I totally side with Perez. X17 sucks!

Think about this: "Perez is not being targeted because he's an affront to paparazzi everywhere," said technology expert Matt Lum, whose company, Hoodlum Productions, provides technology expertise to both Hilton and X17."

Hodlum provides IT for you and Perez ? And seems that Hoodlum is symphatetic with Perez And you wonder why some of the pics are stolen from you ??

I agree with you that the article may have come across as one-sided, but anyone who is familiar with the business would be able to tell that. I am very divided in this issue. On one level, I can see x17's point of view and sympathize with the copyright infringement. However, on the other hand, I don't like that paparazzi images have become ridiculously out of control and on more than one occasion, I have been alarmed at what I see in the videos and pictures. I would be lying if I said I was not a consumer of what the paparazzi are doing, but I don't necessarily need to know or care about 50% of it. I sympathize the most with the celebrites who have to put up with so many photographers invading their quality of life. I don't feel it's right, and I believe that if Perez wins this fight, it will at least settle the underlying issue and help the REAL victims in all of this - the celebrites whose privacy needs to be better protected.

I'm totally with x17 on this one. You guys ROCK. Perez IS a pigheaded asshole.

oh no. you only got 15,000 for a picture. you poor assholes. i feel so bad. i hope YOU get sued by the celebs.

Paparazzi or not, the photographer (unless for hire) owns the photographs. You couldn't just take their home, car, cell and such...like it or not...this is no different! I support the lawsuit 100%!

"Bankrupt culture", is what someone mentioned a few hundred vile posts earlier. Exactly, bankrupt culture...
Perez Hilton...his fans and even X17 are symbols of a bankrupt culture...I hate both Perez biased, vile , cruel comments and the crotch shots that X17 paps are after. I really loathe these crotchshots.

BUT like the writer said, copyright infringement is copyright infringement and therefore i hope that X17 kicks Perez ass in court. Because Perez is a cheap, freebie indicted motherfucker who won't even pay for his wireless internet. And thet cheap fat fuck doesn't sell his advertisments for free....so X17 had every right to sue them. Ever checked Gawker? Gawker doesn't overuse pics....they do everything with linking and i guess those thumbnail they post are either payed for or classified under fair use.

Hey...At least that fat X17 paparazzo has to stand 6 hours in the cold with his dick frozen to get the crotch shots of Britney and Paris. Perez stuffs a donut in his fat mouth and just steals that 6 hours of hard work and a frozen dick within a couple of mouseclicks.

AND TO ALL THOSE IDIOT PEREZ FANS WHO ARE SHITTING THEIR CRAP POSTS HERE: YEAH, PEREZ GOT FANS APPARENTLY....BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN SHIT. 70 YEARS AGO SOME GUY HITLER IN NAZI GERMANY GOT SOME FANS TOO AND THAT'S WON THE POPULARITY CONTEST IN GERMANY AND LOOK WHAT THIS BROUGHT THE WORLD.
But i guess those retarded Perez friends are probably as stupid as Paris and don't even know who Hitler was.

All the people that wrote bad things ABOUT X17 ARE POOR IGNORANTS THEY DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT LAWS AND COPYRIGHTS. PEREZ IS A PILFERER. I DON'T KNOW HOW PEOPLE DON'T REALIZE THAT THE FAG IS STEALING. fUCKING PEOPLE, WHAT DO YOU GUYS SEE IN THAT FAG HE IS STEALING, THIS IS AMERICA. x17 IS NOT WASHING THEIR LAUNDRY IN PUBLIC, THEY ARE JUST GIVING THE GHANGE, AND IF YOU GUYS THINK THE PAPARAZZI DO TERRIBLE THINGS, JUST DON'T COME TO THIS WEH ANYMORE, SIMPLE AS THAT MORONS

All the people that wrote bad things ABOUT X17 ARE POOR IGNORANTS THEY DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT LAWS AND COPYRIGHTS. PEREZ IS A PILFERER. I DON'T KNOW HOW PEOPLE DON'T REALIZE THAT THE FAG IS STEALING. fUCKING PEOPLE, WHAT DO YOU GUYS SEE IN THAT FAG HE IS STEALING, THIS IS AMERICA. x17 IS NOT WASHING THEIR LAUNDRY IN PUBLIC, THEY ARE JUST GIVING THE GHANGE, AND IF YOU GUYS THINK THE PAPARAZZI DO TERRIBLE THINGS, JUST DON'T COME TO THIS WEH ANYMORE, SIMPLE AS THAT MORONS

Screw Brittany, she knows what to expect. If she doesn't want it, get out of the business and especially QUIT SEEKING IT! (Besides, cameras around or not, you don't sit with your legs open in a barely there skirt with no panties on in public. If you think that was an accident and she's the victim, you need your head examined pronto...among other things!)

Honestly...I had never even HEARD of your site until I saw on Perez's that you all were suing him. Who's to say you all aren't performing some type of a publicity stunt? It's corny, and I really hope the case get's thrown out. The only arrogant people I see are the one's who are wasting time taking things like this to court WHEN THERE ARE FAR WORSE THINGS GOING ON IN THIS WORLD THEN SOMEONE "TAKING" pictures WITHOUT ASKING??? Give me a BREAK! People TAKE pictures OF CELEBRITIES without asking them! Invading their privacy and everything. And the celebrities don't get paid for that crap. SO explain to everyone please...WHAT THE HEC IS THE DIFFERENCE?? .

It's not fair that Perez makes a living solely from stealing celeb photos and adding some crappy caption to them. He is a talentless hack. I wish you guys the best with your lawsuit against Perez - I would love to see his waste of cyberspace site shut down!

Cheers,
Abbie in New Zealand :)

you guys still dont understand how he gets your pictures? you guys really need to contact someone *hint hint* about how he REALLY gets the pictures. You guys make it very easy to obtain your pictures, regardless of taking out the "right click " function. and Perez only ever gets his pics from other sites or blogs... Seriously if all the sites want to crack down, you need to 1st figure out how theyre getting the pictures in the 1st place. its not the blog, obviously, because the pics arent tag..

Too bad the Supreme Court has already ruled on this with the "Fair Use" exemption pretty definitively. "Fair Use" exemption of copyright law says you can use any copyrighted material for criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research.

A larger issue would seem to be Parody, which the Supreme Court has also ruled upon seperately and is inherent in the Fair Use exemption.

Perez's use of the images clearly falls under the first 3 of those outlined uses pretty definitively.

Have fun with your lawsuit though. I am sure your representation is having fun collecting your checks.

"And pitching the story in the second paragraph, as somehow less serious or valid because we take paparazzi images and not ‘news’ images, is confusing the issue."

The English word "And" should never begin a sentence. I see that you have an Iranian attorney - USA classifies Iranians as residents of the Axis of Evil. Isn't it funny that you had chosen an Iranian to represent American beliefs?

The only reason I even found out about X-17 is from Perez Hilton's blog. I don't agree with the way he gets photos. I do agree he should link and give credit where credit is due. But to be honest I always go to his site first. Even if I don't like him. He has more info on his blog then any of the other sites including this one.

You are the cause of deaths of important people like Paris Hilton - yes, you belong to that same gang - the paparazzi. Also, my friends are publicists for famous people like Paris Hilton - I am going to recommend to them that they sue you for taking their photographs without their expressed permission and stalking girls, you psychopathic loser.

I also found your site THROUGH Perez's. Both sites are terrible in taste and one day you will all be bringing eachother down, which I think you deserve. You most likely employ illegal immigrants with cameras who will do anything for a dime, and you are very childish to setup a lawsuit to someone who has brought you much success, just as you have him.

I used to hate Perez, but lately i've started warming back up to him - i think he's calmed down a bit with his poison, he stopped being cleverly bitchy & started being downright nasty, which was totally gross. ANYWAY.... I was also on the side of x17 with this subject, but have changed my mind about that too - who the hell are they to take unauthorised pictures of celebs & resell for PROFIT, why can't bloggers take those unauthorised pics & use for profit,? in the end they are UNAUTHORISED PICS right from the start to the end of the line!!! I wish it were legal for celebs to sue paparazzi for taking unauthorised pics of them & using them for profit! I'm sick & tired of seeing the paparazzi's ugly pics, they shoot their photo's from the ground so they can get photo's of ppls panties/vag's as they're gettin' out of cars..... & then the celebs are berated for not wearing undies.... SO FUCKING WHAT IF THEY DONT WEAR UNDIES OUT - it should remain that person's business whether they wore undies or not, but these sleazy no soul paparazzi invade that privacy!!!

P.S Brandy sounds like a whinging, petty arsehole - who makes a deal outta EVERYTHING, i hope she loses her case!!

Yes. I agree that Perez is breaking the law by taking your images... but, frankly, you shouldn't be allowed in a court of law with your occupation. Have some dignity.

i used to hate Perez, but lately i've started warming back up to him - i think he's calmed down a bit with his poison, he stopped being cleverly bitchy & started being downright nasty, which was totally gross. ANYWAY.... I was also on the side of x17 with this subject, but have changed my mind about that too - who the hell are they to take unauthorised pictures of celebs & resell for PROFIT, why can't bloggers take those unauthorised pics & use for profit,? in the end they are UNAUTHORISED PICS right from the start to the end of the line!!! I wish it were legal for celebs to sue paparazzi for taking unauthorised pics of them & using them for profit! I'm sick & tired of seeing the paparazzi's ugly pics, they shoot their photo's from the ground so they can get photo's of ppls panties/vag's as they're gettin' out of cars..... & then the celebs are berated for not wearing undies.... SO FUCKING WHAT IF THEY DONT WEAR UNDIES OUT - it should remain that person's business whether they wore undies or not, but these sleazy no soul paparazzi invade that privacy!!! P.S Brandy sounds like a whinging, petty bitch that makes a big deal outa everything.

I'm sorry! Please forgive me! I won't steal anymore. Is your husband cute? I'm gay, you know. I love Paris Hilton because I am a follower.

You would have a lot more credibility if you'd moderate your website.

By the way, are you getting model releases for all your pictures? I would bet not. So those without sin, and all that.

Stealing photos is wrong, no matter what. The fact that Perez doesnt even attempt to recognise that X17's website provided these photos, as say, Trent from PITNB does with a "photos courtesty of X17" just shows that he doesnt give two shits about copyright laws. I dont think what he has done is worth 7 million dollars.. but he certainly should be reminded of the law.

What I think is going to happen, as Brandy sounds like she's softening on Perez, is this will never see the light of day in court.

This will be settled out of court, and Perez will sign a contract with x-17 about using their images and also linking back to the x-17 site.

Don't take sides people. Brandy said she likes Perez's blog, and it's obvious that Perez likes theirs.

Anyways, if I were the judge that's what I'd do to settle it.

Brandy: talk to your lawyers about settling this out of court.

Hey...here's an idea. These celebrities don't have a choice in being stalked by you and your teams so why not just shut the F up and take your medicine. Big deal that you're getting screwed. No one cares.

Why? Because http://www.AMERICALOVESCRAP.com


That's why!

i'm a fat slob
sue me an ruin me now!

I read the LA article before this, and to be honest it seemed like they were swaying in favor of x17. What you pointed out about above is true, but from a reader's standpoint who read it on unbiased terms, the way the article covered the legal aspects of the case made me focus on that and not so much about who was linked in the article and who wasn't. While I get that you do worry about how the article is interperated, don't worry too much because overall it really did seem to represent both sides, but it made me, the reader, side with you. Good luck.

You suck, Perez rules.

I have no doubt that X17online will win against Perez. You can go with the underdog if you want, sure. That may even be what is popular at the moment. It won't change the definition copyright infringement or who x17online wants to sue for it. Sort of like picking which fruit out of the idiot produce looks most promising. Fun, really.

Chew on that.

I agree with X17. As much as we can all criticize the fact that they are in the business of "stalking" celebrities, WE'RE ALL HERE READING IT, AREN'T WE?

I come here for entertainment and I think that the people that work to provide this information should be the ones benefitting from it.

Hey Perez, ever hear of "There's no such thing as a free lunch?" I'm sure you thought you had found the free lunch, but you're about to back-pay!!!

Personally, I don't see why it's so difficult to credit the source, if that's the request. It's not like the bloggers have their own photogs.

I no longer visit Perez because he's a little mean-spirited for me. I prefer blogs like pinkisthenewblog. Why can't everyone play by the rules?

COPYRIGHT INFINGEMENT IS EXACTLY THAT INFRINGERMENT IT IS THE THEFT AND VIOLATION OF
OWNERSHIP RIGHTS!!! IT;S LIKE IF YOU OWN A HOUSE
AND SUDDENLY I DECIDE I'M MOVING IN TO YOUR HOUSE,
NOT PAY YOU RENT, OH AND I RENT OUT A ROOM IN YOUR HOUSE FOR MONEY TO SOMEBODY AND I DON'T PAY YOU FOR THE RENTAL OF THAT ROOM EITHER!!!!
YOU WOULDN'T LIKE THAT VERY MUCH NOW WOULD YOU?

LOOK PEREZ HILTON IS A THEIF, INFRINGER, AND WELL....

A SPERM BURPING GUTTER FAG SYNTHETIC AFTERBIRTH OF A GUTTER WHORE ON THE RAG

Thank you for your interest in X17's website. At this time, we are giving access only to national and international publications and television outlets. If you feel you fall into one of these categories, please reply from a company e-mail address with more information about your company and how you intend to use our images.

If you’re a fan, check out our new website http://www.x17online, X17 photo agency’s new public blog! After years of fans asking to see our images BEFORE you see them in the magazines, we’ve finally given in and boy are we giving! You’ll see all our latest pix, as they come to us and you’ll be able to get the insider’s perspective on the world of celebrity photos.

The site’s still brand new, but check out what’s planned:

Comments from our photographers direct from the scene
Features on your favorite stars (and even new websites specializing in specific stars)
Photo galleries with LOTS of extra pix

So come to the source and check out what we’ve got to offer. And we LOVE links — so link, link, link, please!

Thanks,
X17

eerrrr... burn in hell ? : ))

Fuck the rules. Perez's site is great. And although I visit this one for up to date Britney pics, I think this site sucks because it's lame enough to sue Perez. His site has much more personality, maybe a little mean, but this site exploits celebs, too. Perez has my loyalty, not x17. Court case probably won't stick anyway.

Perez is a thief, and a smarmy little man. Hope all goes well for you.

Fuck the rules. Perez's site is great. And although I visit this one for up to date Britney pics, I think this site sucks because it's lame enough to sue Perez. His site has much more personality, maybe a little mean, but this site exploits celebs, too. Perez has my loyalty, not x17. Court case probably won't stick anyway.

i dont think an ack
is unreasonable

but no more

f*****g vulturezx

OK you people are complaining about morals in getting pictures. These people are famous. They KNEW when they became famous this was the consequence. SO what.. they're photographed big f ing deal. They make millions of dollars for doing movies or songs or whatever I believe they can handle something like getting their picture taken. Besides it isnt like photogs are in their house taking them, they're in plain sight good grief.

Photographers spend a lot of time and money to obtain these shots and should be paid for them. Perez is a theif. He could have played nice but chose to be an ass and now hopefully he'll pay.

I actually read Perez every day and X17. But comeon... cocaine drops and stupid stuff on peoples pictures is annoying and not cute or funny. Especially poor Dakota Fanning, she's adorable and a child, there's no excuse to do that to her picture.

I side with X17 on this one. Good luck.

Blah, blah, blah. Perez Hilton is an arrogant asshole who sucks Paris Hilton's dick. No one cares. Props to X17 for finally taking a stand against his awful website.

Perez should not get away with stealing. His site sucks too..

YOU SILLY FOOLS HAVE SUCCOMED TO THE REST OF THEM- YEAH GOOD LUCK WITH THE SETTLEMENT. AND GREAT JOB GETTING PEREZ OUT THERE A LITTLE MORE. I SENSE A FEELING OF THREAT. YOU PEOPLE HAVE NO IDEA HOW MANY TIMES YOUR PHOTOS ARE "RIGHT CLICKED" AND PASTED. IT'S THE COMPETITION YOU DESPISE. IT'S HUMOROUS. AND WITH HIS SITE ON THE NEWS, SEE YAAAA!

Didn't one of your photographers recently start a fight with ANOTHER photog by saying "You're in MY hood now, Bitch!"?

If you want to take the high road and try to sue a blogger who makes YOUR site more popular, then try to make all of your employees and contractors take the high road also.

Furthermore, Perez is from the US, correct? Why is it that almost all the audio clips I hear of your photogs, they seem to be Brazilian?

Here's the deal.... you stalk celebs and make money off of THEM without their permission. You've got a lot of nerve trying to sue PerezHilton.com for doing the same thing you do every single day. Also, HOW is this guy getting your pics before you even post them to your site? It's gotta be an inside job. One of your employees is pissed and is feeding Perez your stuff.

Think about it.

Didn't one of your photographers recently start a fight with ANOTHER photog by saying "You're in MY hood now, Bitch!"?

If you want to take the high road and try to sue a blogger who makes YOUR site more popular, then try to make all of your employees and contractors take the high road also.

Furthermore, Perez is from the US, correct? Why is it that almost all the audio clips I hear of your photogs, they seem to be Brazilian?

Here's the deal.... you stalk celebs and make money off of THEM without their permission. You've got a lot of nerve trying to sue PerezHilton.com for doing the same thing you do every single day. Also, HOW is this guy getting your pics before you even post them to your site? It's gotta be an inside job. One of your employees is pissed and is feeding Perez your stuff.

Think about it.

You are 100% in the right; copyright infringement IS copyright infringement!!! HE isn't going out there and getting the photos, why should he get to use them for free and for profit? This is America, he has freedom of speech, but not at the cost of X17...pay to play!
And - YOU may not have called him a pighead, but I AM!!! He is so full of himself, it doesn't take any skills to repeat gossip.

Good luck X17 - stand up for your rights!!!

You are 100% in the right; copyright infringement IS copyright infringement!!! HE isn't going out there and getting the photos, why should he get to use them for free and for profit? This is America, he has freedom of speech, but not at the cost of X17...pay to play!
And - YOU may not have called him a pighead, but I AM!!! He is so full of himself, it doesn't take any skills to repeat gossip.

Good luck X17 - stand up for your rights!!!

Personally, I *love* (read loathe) how Perez alters the image (I guess that it's his way of altering them so that he can go AROUND the whole copyright issue) with little white dots around just about everyones nose's. ::eye roll::

If Perez can't afford your pix, then he to ask his readers to donate money so that he can pay for them. He's just a sad sack.

i'd have more sympathy for you if your job didn't consist of stalking celebrities. watching some of these videos makes me feel bad that this is the way you live your lives. perez isnt much better b.c. he's not particularly witty or amusing. ideally, neither of you would profit from your "professions"

You're all a bunch of hypocritical bottom feeders. You're all making your money by scurrying around like cockroaches to catch a stupid picture of the Olsen twins shopping. How fulfilling your life must be. Granted, I look at this stuff, but I don't sit in my car all night waiting for them. I hop on my computer and spend maybe 5 minutes looking at it. Whatever. Anyway, you're all making tons of money off of this and now you're getting tons of free publicity. Congrats. So you don't like Perez. boohoo. Cry me a river. Next time Perez steals another pic, keep in mind that he's stealing it from a slimy asshole who will do anything for a buck.

No matter who you like, Perez sounded educated, knowledgable, and unintimidated. X17 sounded childish, ridiculous, and petty. I love this...you guys just continue to make yourselves look like idiots.
Now, go back to misidentifying pictures the way you do with your "hard work". Shakira indeed.

Question. Do you ask the celebs to take their pics? No. You hord around them, stalk them, climb trees (invasion of privacy) and say things to provoke them to give you that "million dollar picture." You are slime as much as Perez is slime. But if you are going to bitch and moan about him and what he does, gather all the celebs in one place and have them tell you what THEY think of YOU and your COMPANY and how you CONDUCT YOUR BUSINESS.
All of this is to bring about the kind of attention Perez gets for being what he is. Notice the jump in site visits and comments since this was aired. Frankly, your all money grubbing mongers who should get a real fuckin job.

To add:

Frankly I never even heard of your site until Perez talked about it. And that is exactly what you wanted.

UnFUCKINGreal how we as the american public fall for the BS games Hollywood plays.

I don't know if anyone will ever read this, but hey, all these sites are new to me. And yes I feel like a "dork"
I am not quite sure, the war between the two. I guess it's for the judge to decide.
Me and my daughter used to live right there in West Hollywood, off of Westbourne, and we'd drive by all those restaurants and clubs on a daily basis, so it's exciting to see the pictures. I have been telling people about both websites, before realizing this major war.
Well, anyway, It's real exciting, still to see pictures. Like I love Sandra Bullock and Gwen Stephani.
I wished we would have stayed there in West Hollywood, but it's way expensive and the traffic...OMG. Anyway, Next we go for a visit I will pay special attention to the photogs and ask them which team there work for or whatever.
LOL :)
My thinking is that the celebrities are so wealthy, they realize a few photograpshs to help someone else make a living is ok. Plus it helps there career. I live in California, these sites I have to keep in mind are visited by people all over the world, and perhaps will NEVER have the chance to visit California, let alone the LA area.
Take care and happy holidays.

There was another website, not the ones mentioned where just normal people can get paid for celebrity pics, but what I don't understand, is that they want you to email the picture first....yeah right
does anyone know the name of it?
It was something like paparriz___.com?
OMG, as mentioned before.
Also, how's come the photogs don't see celebrities at the Newsroom restaurnat which is across the street from the Ivy?
Just wondering, Its interesting how places get to be in style for them to go, then fade out.
Thank God they (starlets, movie stars, celibrities) do go to Teddy's if that's the lounge inside the roosevelt hotel. Because people come from all over the world to Hollywood to see celebrities and movie stars. Some families save for years for a vacation, and I am so glad that they go out at night and all of that and fans get to go home and have a nice memory of Hollywood.
I know It's a blast to wait for hours across the street, behind the little gate to watch the stars get out of their limos and stuff for movie premiers at the Graumans. It's impressive that people will wait for hours, just to take a glimpse. I did that with my daughter when she wanted to see Gwen Stephani. My feet hurt and my back, but it was so worth seeing her happy. I am happy for all the photogs who are able to take close up pictures etc. I am also grateful that I have NEVER read or seen anything at all negative about Gwen.
Anyway back to another question if someone knows....
Whatever happened to Ashton Kutcher's restaurant and bar? Wasn't that the place to go or did it fizzle out?
Hey, If anyone knows the answers just send me an email. But no mean comments re: the war please.

get some PR and legal counsel prior to publishing posts like this

umm celebs are celebs and live the way they do because of.... the fans.... and the haters.. and the lovers... and the rest of the world. so when they decided to do movies and go mainstream, they gave up their privacy. they make money off of being seen and being popular.

And regarding the court case. Whether it sticks or not is beside the point. Although I hope they win, this appears to be more of a statement from x17 and other paparazzi... Mario is a sick twisted homosexual who really has no morals and apparently no life either... Since it revolves around being the media whore he is. He shouldn't be mooching. He shouldn't be doing a lot of things but..... OKAY, I'm off topic. To wrap this up, even if x17 doesn't win this suit, it just goes to show that Mario's 15 minutes is just about up..

You are only choosing to go after him because his blog is the most popular, I am sure he is not the first douche bag to do this kind of thing. You dont even have proof that he is posting your pictures and not the pictures someone else snapped. I dont buy people magazine or other rag mags, I happen to like reading perezhilton.com because its fast and easy. You are probably getting paid by the rag mags to trash perez.

I can tell you that X17 is going to win this lawsuit. If Perez was not making money off of his website, then maybe it would be a different story, but you cannot steal somebody else's pictures and use them to profit.

Personally, I honestly think you will lose this Battle. By the sounds of it, this lawsuit is more of a jealousy thing... His site probably gets more hits than yours. You even stated, your going after him instead of others because his blog is the biggest! Exactly... Bigger than yours! He stated in the article that He DID have a link to your website. You only harrassing him, made him rebel. If he wasnt breaking the law then, why did you persist on making his life hell. You, your husband and your entire company look arrogant, childish, and completely un-professional and it makes you wonder why people go to other sites. HmMmMm Next time you post some bullshit like this maybe you should think. You try to cover your ass but you only make yourself look worse. No wonder i'm a Perez fan, I honestly dont think I would want to read nor view your website, especially if a dumbass like you wrote it! Grow up... Be responsible and drop it. Your just pissed everyone likes him so much!

If you don't like people TAKING your images.
Don't post them on a public website!!!!

No, because it's not really about the photos it's about the ammount of hits people like us give you when we enter your site.

Do you know how easy it is to take your images, all you do is press prt scr. ( Print Screen) and paste into Paint or whatever else you use.

All photos and stories are copyrighted by the person that created them.It is the creator that controls who and how they are distributed. X17 is a business that licenses images to publications. Perez hilton is a slimy blogger that has infringed on the copyright of the photographers and X17 as well as other agencies.

When a content CREATOR(owner of the images or story) copyrights their work with the US COpyright office and it is infringed upon(used or copied WITHOUT permission or license) the OWNER can collect $150,000 per image plus all legal fees.

I've been this route many times and won everytime. Thieves deserve to be punished.

www.copyright.gov

Oh who cares, theyre just pictures!

You both are leaches and bottom feeders. There is no reason why either of you (and all your employees) should be paid for what you do. If the judge was smart he'd throw the case out and force you and all your employees to go back to college and earn a degree for a profession that positively contributes something to this society. I hope when you get to the pearly gates someone takes a freaking picture of your ass getting turned away like Tara Reid at an LA nightclub.

Can't believe Perez argued "fair use" when he makes money from your pictures. Take him DOWN!!!!

they did mention your website in the article thats how I found it.

Do you think we're going to take some drunk's word over the LA Time?

Maybe you read Perez' blog after a long night of drinking and did not know what to think?

You said he was arrogant and that is why you are suing him. You haven't sued the millions of other blogs out there.

You're a drunk, hahahahahahahhahaha

DRUNK DRUNK DRUNK

Team PEREZ!

Seriously, I thoroughly like coming to both sites, but if I had to choose the one that is more entertaining---better pictures overall and more interesting commentary-- it is Perez all the way.

AND I, like many others, found this site THROUGH Perez. Why don't you get advertisers on here like him who will pay more $$$$$ for the traffic you get from people like Perez?????????????

I thought the irony was that Perez copied the entire article and posted it on his site instead of excerpting and linking to it. .. Another example of copyright infringement. Playboy, let alone the recording industry, has been very aggressive regarding this type of infringement and has been successful in these exact type of lawsuits. The case law is pretty clear. And the photo agencies almost have an obligation to sue the blogs in order to protect their copyright.

The case is pretty cut and dry Brandy, and you will win the case. It will be interesting to see the aftermath.

Good luck with your lawsuit! If someone uses your pictures they should follow the rules. I do like PerezHilton, but he is becoming too mean (i.e. when he drew coke on Maddox Jolie-Pitt...that went too far!).

Good luck with your lawsuit! If someone uses your pictures they should follow the rules. I do like PerezHilton, but he is becoming too mean (i.e. when he drew coke on Maddox Jolie-Pitt...that went too far!).

The article did seem one sided. The journalist made it seem like the poor guy up against the MAN! But please, Perez says he is now making bank (the article says he will make 6 figures this year). If this is true then he can more then pay!

you suck. perez is amazing

I can't believe the people who are siding with Perez! I mean, I like his site.. don't get me wrong... but to steal pictures from another company...? That's TOTALLY illegal and uncalled for! He's making a shit load of money off of x17 and other agencies!

Perez stole the "Hilton" last name and now he steals pictures. He needs to become a little more original.

This is absolutely ridiculous. Perez was bankrupt and has made a living out of doing what he loves. He has worked hard to get to where he is. He doesn't care about the $$$ like you do, he does it all for the fans. The internet is a public place and you of all people should have known better than to not water mark your photos. You can't sue someone for your own stupidity. You say PEREZ is arrogant, stop making this a personal thing. Don't be mad cause he stopped working with you and made it big on his own. This case will be dismissed. I can't remember the last time I heard of a person winning a federal case worth 7.5 million dollars just because they had a personal issue with someone. If that were the case we'd all be millionares. Stop being a jealous money hungry bitch!!! PEREZ RULES!!!!

X17 is awesome and we thank you.

Perez hilon is a fat pig who is making lots of money but refuses to pay for property.

His crazed fans are 13 years old and dont realize the legal impact of his illegal activities.

I think you're the same as Perez, you make fun of celebrities and you like to stalk them taking lots of photos...

The issue I have with your post, is that I am a journalist. I read the published article and thought it clearly was objective. Seeing as how you are in the business of guerilla-warfare photography, should people in glass houses be throwing stones. You should have known when you talk to a jounralist, you are "on the record." Everything that you say at that point is priveleged information and subject to publication. Did you think calling Perez "arrogant" wasn't going to be used in an interview with him. Yet, my personal favorite is that you claim that you are being misquoted as calling him "pigheaded." I hope the journalist that interviewed you recorded the interview. It is so frequent that once something that doesn't look flattering is brought to light people object. Personal accountability and responsibility goes much farther than finger pointing.

You're making money by taking photos of people who just happen to be on the street, leaving a restauarant or whatever and never pay them a dime for the use of their image. I don't see that Hilton is ripping you off any more than you are, ripping off 'celebrities' by using them to make money.

Do you know how easy it is to take your images, all you do is press prt scr. ( Print Screen) and paste into Paint or whatever else you use."

Yes, I just tried it, and that worked. And who cares about right clicking...I just highlighted the part of the post I just quoted from, "Control" + "C" to copy, and then "Control" + "V" to paste, and I can do that with your pictures too, right into Word, Photoshop, whatever. Just so you know there are very easy ways around the no right click feature. View Source also gives me quite a few options to save your pictures to post on my own, if I wanted to (which I don't, but the amount of ways to grab your images is higher than I would have expected, and people like PH can use that for the wrong reasons, if they want to).

Watermark every picture with bold wording, I say...And perhaps get a PR person to take over the press right now, because they just mentioned this on Fox News again (why I came in search of you), and I don't think you are sounding as well as you *SHOULD* after reading your rebuttal. I'm sorry to say this, but I was decidedly on your side after hearing about this story, but after thinking about this, reading your rebuttal, and wondering why it bothered you that your website was not also mentioned in the piece, I question your motives, beyond the "property" question. The fact is that you are not doing a very good job at even "labeling" your property with a watermark. Yes, I know, those can be removed as well, but it's an added security that will protect your images, regardless if you win this or not.

Good luck to you, in any event.

perez hilton is a gross character (presumably an "activist" for gay rights yet models himself after the "flomboyant gay man" stereotype while slamming gay celebrities). His site is nothing but his personal childish, bitter outlet and the fact that he has no talent whatsoever comes through in everyone one of his posts. He deserves to be sued (just like any other who participates in illegal activities) His 15 minutes of "fame" are up. Hollywood definitely won't miss his useless blog.

You've got to stand up for your work. I'm behind you X17!

BOTTOM LINE to this issue is COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT. X17 have every right to go after www.perezhilton.com because he steals/uses images without permissin of the photographer/X17. If Mario Lavandeira/www.perezhilton.com is making money on his web-site he should be like any other company, ie: US, People plus many other's and pay for the content that makes his site for what it is. If he doesn't start to buck for photo useage of other people's property I hope he's making enuff money to pay for his useage's. Mario get some balls and be a man, pay for what make's you. DON'T STEAL IMAGES.

I think it's funny that you are going to correct someone else's grammer, read your own damn letter and fix your own mess. By the way, your letter about the article sounds like a whining little teenage girl. If you want people to take you seriously, you really need to work on your approach. It sucks.

use photoshop to slice your images into several hundred pieces. Then if he wants them, he'll have to cut and paste little bits at a time. Simple remedy.

By the way x17 used an image from the LA Times about a month ago and didn't credit them w/ a link. UH OH LAWSUIT!

GO PEREZ! THE WRITING ON THIS SITE IS WEAK...GET SOME BALLS BE MORE AGRESSIVE.......ITS WHY PEREZ'S SITE IS SO ADDICTIVE HES HAS THE BALLS TO WRITE THINGS THAT NO ONE WANTS TO SAY OUT LOUD

TEAM PEREZ 100%

FUCK X 17

PS IS THE OWNER OF THIS SITES WIFE STILL AN ALCOHOLIC BITCH NO ONE CAN
STAND WORKING FOR?
FAILED REHAB TWICE I HEARD...OWNERS WIFE IS AN ALOHOLIC BITCH AND SHOULD DIE

Who cares? It's funny though. That makes it entertainment, oui?

I wouldn't even now about this site if it weren't for Paris.

GRAMMAR!!!!!

TEAM PEREZ!!!!

You guys are trying to come across as totally innocent & its absolute bullshit! How bout u guys pay the celebrities everytime u take a picture of them?? how does that sound!!? This whole thing is just a case of jealousy!! You guys hate that perez's site is way more popular than your's will ever be!! And the only reason half the people know about your site is thanx 2 perez! SO in my opinion you guys owe him!!

X17 = LOSERS
PEREZ = CHAMP!!!!!!!

many of these comments are very ironic: traffic to a site determines ad rates so visitors that come here and say how pathetic it is are actually helping the site make more money!

You know a couple of years I go, when I was younger I thought it was "ok" to stalk celebrities. Since then I grew up and realized that that was me thinking very selfishly. That I actually wanted to see these pictures to an extent that I didn't care if celebrities were being mistreated. Looking back, I understand that we are actually in the wrong. That the way these pictures are sought out are cruel, demoralising, and definitely an invasion of privacy. I'm pretty sure that in the years ahead the goverment will put a stop to the way the papparazzi handles these situations. You might be getting away with it now. But there will come a day when your luck runs out. It's because of ignorance that there's nothing being done at the moment.

The fact that you are trying to sue Perez Hilton reveals that your sole purpose is to gain money from this situation. How do you expect to be viewed in court knowing that the judge will state that you should have taken greater responsibility for not water marking your pictures. Do you actually think that this rule does not apply to you? If you can't take the neccessary steps to protect your resources then how are you going to point the blame in someone else's direction. Maybe you should take a step back and realize what's really going on here. Why waste money only to look like a fool? I can honestly say that to me is what I'm seeing.

That evil little fucker Perez is about to learn the rule of law the hard way. He was warned many a time.

Although the photographers invade every moment of someone elses life just because they act, sing etc... the law still gives them the right of the image. You cannot blatantly steal someone elses work without them getting more than a little pissed off.

Quite frankly, fuck Perez, he is a mean, nasty little person and deserves a bloody good dose of reality.

LOL at the Perez Haters. Quit taking this shit so personal. Hating him for your stupid petty reasons is ridiculous, it's compares to hating X17 for posting degrading pictures of Britney Spears. Nobody wins in that department. Both sides are guilty. This is about the matter at hand. X17 is only suing Perez because they're a bunch of broke, unintelligent, emo-bitches.

LOL at the Perez Haters. Quit taking this shit so personal. Hating him for your stupid petty reasons is ridiculous, it's compares to hating X17 for posting degrading pictures of Britney Spears. Nobody wins in that department. Both sides are guilty. This is about the matter at hand. X17 is only suing Perez because they're a bunch of broke, unintelligent, emo-bitches.

Francois Regis Navarre you're a thief, your brazilians did not work on Britney tonight because you haven't paid them last month,your first ''Britney team" left by Big Redhead Steve has gone because you didn't pay them for their pictures, you've been stealing fotographers for years, WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND fuckhead!!!
You are nothing of a Paparazzi anyway, you are ruining celebs life, taking pictures of someone's private life is one thing, but at least do it with a minimum of respect, you are a stalker, a thief and a fuckhead...Perez is stealing you and others so live with it as your fotographers had lived with the fact of beeing robbed...FUCK OFF Mr and Mme Navarre

fuck off, one more time....this one is free

If your so concerned, WHY didn't you watermark all of your pictures, it takes but a few seconds to do! I have to do it all the time with my graphics, and it saves alot of trouble and so on....
You dont pay the celebs for their image,
so why should you get paid ? Let the magazines pay for your pics and don't worry about the bloggers, personally I think you are getting PLENTY of money from the mags alone... More than I make that's for sure and I live comfortably, so quit whining. Honestly, if it weren't for Perezhilton.com I would never even know you existed. I do understand the fact that he should credit though, not understanding why you didn't just watermark and make it so even if someone didn't credit, it still would be known who's photo it was.
*sigh* Ok, I have rambled enough my fingers are sore.

x17 is the best!! You guys rule!! Thank you very much for all the exclusive pixels!! Is Perez hilton for real?? Cause I still can't belive he does that without getting punished.. Of course you guys are going to win.Thank you x17, YOU GUYS RULE...

HA Perez is funny and has a much better site than X17.

Plus considering you guys photoshopped two of britney photos and failed to produce a video... shows that you guys are FAKE!

Posters stating that you're reaping what you've sown are CORRECT, X17... Suing Perez for $7.5M is ridiculous! It's ABSURD for you to claim X17 is worth $7.5M or that Perez "stole" that much business from you! LMAO! I've heard about your Photogs' aggressive and disgusting behavior and worse than that, your site is sycophantic and not entertaining - not only does Perez frequently beat you to the punch on "breaking news" but so do numerous other blogs. This suit is CLEARLY a personal issue and not business-oriented or you'd be hammering the other blogs, too - many more than the 3 "approved" blogs use your photos. Oh, the other blogs also manage to publish breaking news before you do. ON ANOTHER NOTE - you ought to be ASHAMED of how you chase these creatures down for photos. Just looking at the recent pictures with the kids in them is appalling - put yourselves in the shoes of one of those toddlers - for God's sake, a stranger smiling at a child can elict fear - what do you think you're doing to these little kids on a daily basis with your pushing, shoving, hollering out and flashing bulbs? It's one thing to show red carpet photos or photos of people coming out of bars - but CHILDREN? You are SICK FUCKERS WITH NO ETHICS. Hmmm... Maybe you're pedophiles in disguise... I hope one (or all) of those children's parents SUE YOUR ASS for "child endangerment." Remember that Mommy or Daddy is the celebrity - the kids still have privacy rights, you schmucks. And YEAH, I know what that word means. Seems too appropriate. You guys need to grow up and get real jobs. I hope you lose your ass in the suit against Perez - not because of the photo-snatching (he should pay for other's work) but because you're slimy, slimy and trying to claim you're crystal clean. Leave the children alone, you assholes!

This is my first time here. I wouldn't have come here if it wasnt for perez and thanks to you guys suing him I wont be comming back here again.

You're going to lose.

You really don't have any understanding of fair use.

As to why the photos are newsworthy before he posted them, it's the subjects of the photos.

And if you want to call it stealing, aren't you stealing the images of these actors, actresses, etc? Did they give you permission to take their pic? No, they didn't. Because they don't have to, because they are "newsworthy".

If Perez should have to pay you then you should have to pay and get permission from Britney and all the rest before you publish their pictures.

Do you know why you don't? I think it's something called "fair use".

To those who believe paparazzi ‘stalk’ celebrities you need to understand it’s all part of the game. Celebrities make huge amounts of money because of the earning power of their names. Tom Cruise makes $80 million from a movie not because his talent is so much better than other actors but because of the media attention he receives. I’m sure if you asked any actor if he prefers to go around unnoticed or have the paparazzi follow him, he’d choose the later because it increases his name recognition which earns him more money.

I'm completely amazed that you feel you have any "rights" to pictures of people whom you stalk and make money off of. I can't wait for the celebs to start suing you!!

DMCA... Look it up. The law is clear and well tested by the recording industry. It's going to be a hoot when the judgement goes against Perez, and unless this is before a judge ready to retire and a fan of his, there's no doubt it will.

Perezbots are sounding like teenyboppers defending their favorite pop star after a controversy. Perez is going down, he was given more than fair warning, he's not fair use especially when he's for profit, and he WILL lose this case, and will have to pay enough to the point he'll probably have to turn over his site to X17 and file bankruptcy.

Perez stole your work. Period. He knows it. He also knows that this is giving publicity to his site. I think when you win part of your settlement should be that he needs to give your site a top banner for a year free of charge.

He is a loser. I hope you win.

I wonder how many of these "Perez supporters" are actually the fat little bastard himself?

Yet another Perez site fan here who understands your point -

Prior to this week, I was unaware of your site or this dispute. But now that I have heard the facts, I will no longer visit his site. Rather, I'll come to yours.

If I know he is showing stolen pictures, but still go to his site to view them, then, in effect, I am the end-user of stolen product. What a shame that Perez is trying to stand behind laws that rightfully protect satire to justify stealing. But equal shame on those who knowlingly support him in this effort by continuing to view his website.

And anyone who thinks it is okay to still view Perez's site, think about this: How would you feel if after a full week of work, your boss said, "Sorry, I know you put in the work, but someone else took credit for it, sold it for profit, so I cannot pay you?" You'd feel just like X17 does now.

quite frankly i think your all a bunch of stalkers but i do like this site better than perez, his annoying lil drawings on the pictures are so juvenile and he hates on everone except paris, which i don't have a problem with cuz i love paris, but perez is annoying, i'm rooting for x17!

Well-said!

Kudos to you for sticking to the point and not allowing this to become a personal squabble.

I was SO glad to hear that you were suing. Copyright infringement is no joke. Kinda like stealing all your hard work...well...actually it is stealing. Best of Luck to you and may you receive all that you are asking for.

Just out of curiosity-If you're brave enough to post something why do you have to hide behind an "anonymous" tag? C'mon guys & gals....You're supposed to be grownups! Wait..Wait..I get it-You Want to Bad Mouth People but don't want to be Held Responsible. Hmmm....I thought that was what being an adult was all about...taking responsibility for your actions but from some of the posts I've seen there aren't too many adults here. The ones that are here at least didn't hide under an "anonymouse" tag.

Yet another Perez site fan here who understands your point -

Prior to this week, I was unaware of your site or this dispute. But now that I have heard the facts, I will no longer visit his site. Rather, I'll come to yours.

If I know he is showing stolen pictures, but still go to his site to view them, then, in effect, I am the end-user of stolen product. What a shame that Perez is trying to stand behind laws that rightfully protect satire to justify stealing. But equal shame on those who knowlingly support him in this effort by continuing to view his website.

And anyone who thinks it is okay to still view Perez's site, think about this: How would you feel if after a full week of work, your boss said, "Sorry, I know you put in the work, but someone else took credit for it, sold it for profit, so I cannot pay you?" You'd feel just like X17 does now.

X17 You are doing the right thing. I like both sites but Perez is committing copyright infringement and needs to be held accountable. You keep going. Just don't "try" your case in the media. It can come back to haunt you in depositions or trial. Just a suggestion.

You are 100% right here! Anyone who sees it differently, well just goes to show what type of intelligence your readers have.

I am hoping he gets the pants sued off of him....

I am a U.S. Marine who read the Drudge Report this morning on a break between training events and discovered this little Perez/x17 feud. Thank you for making me laugh out loud when reminded of the tomfoolery we're defending out there in L.A. Very entertaining.

You guys are ALL retarded. x17 and Perez- grow the f*ck up.

mY QUESTION IS: dO YOU ALL PAY THE CELEBRITIES WHO YOU STALK TO GET THOSE PICTURES? aRE YOU BREAKING BREAD WITH THEM? hELL NO, YOU'RE RAPING AND ROBBING THEM OF THEIR DIGNITY, AND YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY...WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND!

STOP WHINING

You guys suck, from now on I WILL NEVER LOOK AT YOUR SITE AGAIN. GROW UP, HE ALWAYS GIVES YOU CREDIT.

if you're so concerned, why do you post the pictures online? if people like perez are getting your pictures before you even get them to us weekly or people, then perhaps you should re-evaluate how you send these shots.

and what about privacy? if a network like mtv is doing a reality show, they have to get participants to sign a release form before it can be broadcast. why don't you have to do the same with these videos of celebrities (or the people in the background?) ... yes, it's on the internet, but TV shows do pick up your videos, so you could be sued for that.

u guys are pretty stupid, and this is an australian speaking here! boo-hoo, weve disableb right click. pfft! i simply point my cursor and wait till it prompts me to save image! all on xp sp2> weak! go perez. much better name. x17 sounds like teenagers trying to grow up.. lIkE ToTaLlY, jUsT cHiLlAx

u guys are pretty stupid, and this is an australian speaking here! boo-hoo, weve disabled right click. pfft! i simply point my cursor and wait till it prompts me to save image! all on xp sp2> weak! go perez. much better name. x17 sounds like teenagers trying to grow up.. lIkE ToTaLlY, jUsT cHiLlAx

Just so you know, I didn't even know about your website until I started reading perezhilton.com. Now I check both regularly.

wow x17 if fucking lame... you are blood suckers feeding off the lives of celebrities, why cant Perez feed off you!! shut your legs BRANDY theres filth coming out! get over the fact that Perez is getting way more popular than you! tear!

Yeah, I would think the publicity you've gotten from Perez would be worth more than 7.5 million. I doubt many of us would have even heard of your site had we not read about it on Perez. Nice that you would thank him with...a lawsuit?! Not to mention all these whiny posts/bitching to other media sources. Pathetic.

I found it difficult to stomach your bland site prior to these events. So you hired some ex-cons to take a few cheap pictures. Yeah, that's art. Get over yourselves.

-A Former (Occasional) Reader

You have got to be kidding...journalism? That's what you call your "blog"? Come on, you want to talk about infringing on people's rights..that's what you do. Not to mention your poor grammar..you are not a journalist, you are an abusive and pitiful blogger.

i totally agree with x17!!!!! perez is STEALING their pictures!!!!!! there is no if ands or buts about it!!!!!!! he is straight up STEALING their pictures and if i was in X17's position i would sue his ugly ass too!!!!!!!!! perez is a joke!!!! he has no class. i love x17 and hope they win their lawsuit just to shut perez up!!!!

BUT...

i read the la times online article....and robin did include a link to x17's website as well/..


"While X17 has agreements with many gossip blogs — Pink IsTheNewBlog, PopSugar and SocialiteLife, among others — allowing them to post photos with proper credit and a link back to the X17 website (http://www.X17online.com), Navarre said she was tired of constantly reminding Hilton to credit X17 and had finally given up."

and im sure that bu working "6 am to midnight" mrs navarre is prob working FROM HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so all you idiots trying to act like she is a devil mom for working so long need to shut the hell up!!!

anyways....good luck on the lawsuit brandy and x17!!!!!! lets aim for getting perez's entire damn site shut down!!~!

In case we all forgot!

PAPARAZZI AND THEIR ANTICS LIKE X17 KILLED PRINCESS DIANA

You dont give a shit about your photos being used.

MAIN CARE

MONEY MONEY MONEY FOR YOUR DROP OUT OF REHAB ASS.

I liked X17 and perez and even TMZ my 3 sites I go to.

You took this to an all new level...I hope you have to end up paying PEREZ for all the horrible things you have said about him!

FYI

Today is the last day I will be visiting X17!

"our photographers do all the hard work and stay up and out all night"

thats your fucking fault! if you werent so...OH MY GOD BRITNEYS PUSSY IS GONNA PAY....then it wouldnt be a problem.

YOU DONT CARE ABOUT BLOGGING...YOU DONT CARE THAT PEOPLE WANT YOU TO LEAVE Them ALONE...you only care about

MONEY
MONEY
MONEY
MONEY
MONEY
MONEY
MONEY
MONEY

What's with all this convicted sex offender talk? Is one of your photographers actually a sex criminal, cause that would explain all the nasty crotch shots.

I would also like to add that Perez's popularity grew because of his writing and comments, not the pictures. I don't even care if there's a picture. If he has some juicy gossip and no pitcure to boot, then I'll still read his blog. Also like one reader said before, is it possible that out of the 20+ photogs waiting for whomever, some of the shots might be the same. The same pictures are on all the same sites, you are not the only ones.

X-17,
I am surprised that a company who hires convicted sex offenders, stalks celebs to get "exclusive" shots (which end up all over the net anyway) and has a raging alcoholic of an owner thinks they are taking "the higher road" in this whole situation. Sorry guys but I only know about this boring site b/c of Perez.
TEAM HILTON, bitches!

TEAM PEREZ HILTON!!!!!!!!

X17 who? The only reason I have been to your site is because of Perez, he suggests other sites & gives credit when he takes a picture.

You are just jealous because his site has 100X more hits daily and attacts fans worldwide.

Quit hatin on the playa.
Hate the paparazzi game.

hey fuckhead you don't like my comments mr REGIS FRANCOIS NAVARRE, one your fotogs was arrested yesterday..
Anyway you're a thug, a thief, a low life you've been robbing your fotographers blind for the past 10 years, WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND motherfucker....
you cunt!!!! i could go on and on bitch...i'm thinking about a new blog "STOPX17.COM"

You are ridiculous. Can't believe you even asked why your ghetto site wasn't mentioned in the article. You OBVIOUSLY just want more hits on your site. But what you foget, is that Perez also has GOSSIP, and INSIDER information. All you have is shitty pictures that you pay idiots to take in an aggressive manner. If we wanted to see pictures and read comments describing those pictures, I'd read your site. For the real cheese everyone goes to Perez. Get over yourself and your crappy site.

Heh, this is all funny. I just get on here to read and look at the pictures.

Blogging is a new world of FREEDOM for all. And it should be free. Learn the law! I agree with Mizz Thang Posted December 17, 2006 9:54 AM
(There's a well deserved credit)
Read this...
Brandy and her husband are fucking retards. Welcome to the world of the internet: the INFORMATION highway (not the "financial gain" highway). When will people get it through their heads that the internet is NOT "private" nor "owned" by anyone?? If you are stupid enough to think that you can keep your "art" (whether photographs, paintings, etc.) from being "stolen," then don't post on the internet; sell locally, stamp your original images, and stop crying your whining, sniveling, and crying about trying to use the internet for your bread and butter, and realize that you've just actually just been outsmarted by someone who figured out how to make a living by utilizing what you are stupid enough to post! And if advertisers want to pay bloggers for being a high-hit site (Perez is on his 24/7), then he got lucky! Please, just grow the fuck up and realize that this is a hobby, it's for fun, and you're out to establish a precedent that COULD RUIN IT FOR ALL BLOGGERS!!!

Fair use is fine and good except when it is a money-making venture as perezhilton.com

BUUUUTTTTT ... I would have never known about X17online if were not for Perez. I'll bet that is true for MANY of your readers.

Love Perez, hope he can keep things going ... legitimately and fairly to all parties

Remember you're a blogger...get a real job. You shouldn't be making money being a stalkerazzi! You're really taking the fun out of blogging for all real bloggers. You're going to kill it for all of us!!

You're going to lose.

It's the internet fucktards. Everyone can use whatever info they want from it. If you don't like it, don't use the internet. It's that simple. Just sell your shitty pictures to magazines.

And learn to spell, I had better grammar than you in 3rd grade.

Perez is a stupid fat f*ck who is just trying to get famous by doing absolutely nothing! he isnt doing this for all the bloggers out there, he is in it for whatever he can get for himself! he is a wannabe celebrity! i hope you guys win!

I'm glad to see the watermarks on the latest pics posted. Very smart move, and I hope that it helps with the problem you are having.

Why the hell come here to kick X17 owners, or readers. You do not have to come to this website. These people are no worse than any other..how the hell do you know who they hire? Perez Hilton is a fucking whining little pussy..do you think for one second the photos he does get on his "own" are taken by his fat ass? Come on, the only reason he exists is to help promote the whore of the century Paris Hilton...and stealing is stealing whether on the internet or not...for those of you who think you know the law..Perez was SLAMMED by People for stealing those photos of the Baby of the Century...if you love his ass so fucking much stay the hell off this website...how ignorant are you to come somewhere you hate? To top it all of you are hyprocrites sticking up for the blogger he is and slamming this website...they operate off the same idea...

I just hope this leads to Reuters and Yahoo suing Matt Drudge for stealing images and Yahoo's bandwidth by hotlinking the photos on his site for profit.

My apologies -I've never heard of your site, X17. I have visited Perez's site and perused for a time. After reading about the legal matters between you and the Perez site ... I wanted to check your site out. Nice site...I've bookmarked it! Good luck - hope things work out. Hopefully, the lawsuit will draw more to your site.

It sure is sad to see so many people out there who say that this site sucks, or does Perezs'. Why then, are they here reading? I'm sure the reason this sites owner is up 'till midnight is so she can share some time with the kids during the day. You run a blog for money, you're home in front of the computer. Sounds better than doing 10 hours a day of work, 2 traveling of course, to come home tired and cranky to the loving children whom you still have to feed, help with homework and put to bed. Think of it this way. If you came up with the paper clip and the guy next door stole it and marketed it and you lost out on all that money, wouldn't you be pissed? Go X17. I'm with you on the law part. My own opinion? Perez is an Arrogant Asshole with good pics. Now that I know how he got them, so unashamedly, I'll be coming here instead. You've won a fan with this lady. Oh, and I'm over 30.

You guys aren't the most upstanding citizens, but I do agree that the law is on your side. Copyright infringement is illegal, regardless of the nature of the produced content. Not the mention Perez walks a fine line between reporting gossip and sladering those he reports on. I'm sure Tara Reid and Kathy Griffin are not going to be contributing to the "save Perez fund".

i heard you are a slut and a drunk.

Shut the f*ck up you whinner! Perez rocks!!!!

umm...usmagazine.com is the wrong URL. are you sure you have a relationship with them?

it's odd how all these ANONYMOUS people get on here and talk shit about you-if this site is sooo bad then why are they still reading it?? i haven't visited perez' site since this stealing was made public. he needs to crawl out of Paris' ass and jump into the real world!! YOU are doing a great job, don't get discouraged, and i will continue to visit daily. :)

it's odd how all these ANONYMOUS people get on here and talk shit about you-if this site is sooo bad then why are they still reading it?? i haven't visited perez' site since this stealing was made public. he needs to crawl out of Paris' ass and jump into the real world!! YOU are doing a great job, don't get discouraged, and i will continue to visit daily. :)

Southern.blue:

What the hell is the difference between writing anonymous and ur id name?

Cause southern.blue is so much clearer. why dont u write ur real name?

It's pretty obvious all z17 care's about is money. Why else would they sue for so goddamn much. Get a life x17. How dare you whine he stole my pictures. Fucking watermark your shit and stfu. Simple as that. If you can't take responsiblity for your own shit then don't fucking complain about it. And now your suing. How american of you. I think both sides need to own up to there mistakes but suing Perez after watching your disgusting stalkerish, pornographic pictures is just WOW. It amazes me how fucking sick people can be. How they could care less about anyone but their damn selves and wonder why there are people out there stealing from them. You don't get it yet? Your company is seriously asking for it. Great way to draw attention to yourselves.

i definitely say sue his ass...you cannot steal photos without permission!

I am an Intellectual Property Attorney and it is not only x17's right but it's duty to follow through with this lawsuit. When you have someone who shows total disregard for the law they must be held accountable for their actions...PERIOD!!!! I am suprised it took this long to sue him. Also, I am pretty sure that Perez has a lawsuit for slander coming his way. Let this be a lesson to all you "bloggers" know the law BEFORE you blog. Know what is appropriate and what isn't. Had Perez done this in the begining, he would not be in the throws of becoming bankrupt.

I only ever looked at perez's site because of the comments on this site. I looked at his site once and will never go back, what is the point of setting up a website just to slag off other people? And what's with the white blobs all over the place, is he trying to insinuate all these people have a cocaine problem? I think he is immature and probably has self esteem issues which is why he feels it's okay to spend all his time being nasty to others. I don't really care if you sue him or not but I wish he would disappear forever, why do we need someone so nasty and immature?

TEAM X17!!!
You're going to win, i`m sure!

wow, there are some retarded comments on here. first and foremost, this is a battle over copyright infringement and perez plain and simple does not have permission to use pictures from this photog agency. in turn x17 is losing money because they aren't able to sell their "exclusive" photos at the intial face value and with that, they still have to pay their photographers.

i do agree with those of you who suggested watermarking as it will help slightly, but trust me, there are several tools on the market that help to remove watermarks and any metadata associated with image files. additionally, disabling right-click does jack. there are programs that can make entire copies of sites. also, all you have to do is select all and then copy and paste to a program like dreamweaver to find a link. that's it.

sure, it's an extremely annoying situation as many of you have stated - "stop being 4th graders" - but hey, both parties are frustrated and feel the need to defend themselves against poorly written journalism.

i don't agree with perez making this whole thing about the "bloggers of the world" - before perez there were fansites & forums (i.e. JJB) and people were asked to do the same - remove photos that were posted without permission. the only other different thing is that these other people listened. like he says, he's the queen of media and is totally making this hype for himself.

i have never commented on a gossip blog before, but i just really felt that there were a lot of ill-informed individuals posting comments.

some of these comments must be from the people who post on JJ. they're about the same level of intelligence.

and what about all these people saying paparazzis are wrong? LOL!!! every single person on this earth knows paparazzi is the downside of fame. if you don't want paparazzi to follow you, don't become famous. BTW, it is possible to be a succesful actor and NOT be on the cover of every mag. look att Matt Damon, for instance.

as for the lawsuit, i'm team X17