Paris Hilton 'directed' sex video - court filing
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-02-24 10:54

Reality TV star Paris Hilton directed and helped shoot the notorious sex video starring her and an ex-boyfriend that has surfaced on at least two Internet porn sites, according to documents filed for a Los Angeles court hearing on Monday.

Reality TV star Paris Hilton directed and helped shoot the notorious sex video starring her and an ex-boyfriend that has surfaced on at least two Internet porn sites, according to documents filed for a Los Angeles court hearing on February 23, 2004. The documents were filed by Seattle-based Marvad Corp. asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit by Hilton's ex-boyfriend, Rick Salomon, on the basis that Hilton also held rights to the video. Hilton is shown at a film premiere in Los Angeles, Oct. 20, 2003. [Reuters]

The documents were filed by Seattle-based Marvad Corp. asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit by Hilton's ex-boyfriend, Rick Salomon, on the basis that Hilton, best known as the star of the Fox reality TV show "The Simple Life," also held rights to the video.

Hilton's manager had no comment. The attorney for the 23-year-old socialite and member of the family that founded the Hilton hotels chain.

Salomon, 35, claims Marvad violated his copyright by distributing clips of the video on its Web site, sexbrat.com.

The lawsuit, filed in November in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, also accuses Salomon's former roommate, Don Thrasher, of stealing, copying and selling the videotape to Marvad without Salomon's permission.

Thrasher has said publicly that Salomon agreed to sell the tape, and actually received half of the $50,000 proceeds.

About a week ago, Salomon posted the 38-minute video on his own Web site, www.trustfundgirls.com, where it sells for $50, his publicist said on Monday. Parts of the night-vision video, recorded in May 2001, turned up on the Internet in November.

U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson heard arguments on Monday and said he would rule at a later date on Marvad's motion to dismiss Salomon's lawsuit.

In court papers, Marvad's lawyers argued that the case should be thrown out because Salomon was not the sole copyright holder as he apparently had claimed in registration documents.

"Unfortunately for Salomon, the video also depicts Ms. Hilton participating fully in the creation of the video," the motion said. "Ms. Hilton offered directorial comments and physically controlled and directed the camera."

At one point in the video, Hilton even pushed Salomon out of the frame so as to not block the shot, the document said.

"Salomon's failure to identify Ms. Hilton as a co-author on the application for copyright registration renders the certificate of registration invalid and fraudulent," the document said.

Other court papers claim that Hilton was aware that Salomon was showing the video to friends.

Salomon's attorney, Martin Singer, dismissed the argument as "great for the media, bad for the law."

"My client owns the video," Singer said. "When an actor appears in a motion picture and may help direct scenes ... that doesn't change ownership."

Hilton has not sued Salomon over the video, Singer said.

She has, however, sued Panama-based Internet company Kahatani Ltd. for $30 million, claiming it illegally distributed the notorious video.

Hilton said in her lawsuit that she intended the videotape for "personal use and never intended or consented that it be shown to anyone else or distributed to the public."

Salomon, a video entrepreneur, in November sued Hilton and her family for $10 million, claiming they slandered him by suggesting that he took advantage of her.

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