Liam Hemsworth faces $150,000 lawsuit over an Instagram photo

Liam Hemsworth is being sued for sharing on Instagram a photo of him from the set of "Isn't It Romantic."

Splash News and Picture Agency have filed a lawsuit against the "Hunger Games" star for alleged unauthorised use of their photo. Documents obtained by E! revealed that he is being sued for copyright infringement. Hemsworth shared a paparazzi photo taken when he was filming for the Netflix film which co-stars Rebel Wilson.

The photographer took a "series of photos depicting defendant Hemsworth performing an outdoor scene on location for production of the film Isn't It Romantic." The 29-year-old Australian actor posted the photo in question twice.

The first time was on July 15, 2018, and he tagged the movie's promotional page. Then the second time happened on June 20, 2019, on two occasions.

"Hemsworth or someone acting on his behalf again posted the Photograph to Hemsworth's Instagram Story twice on June 20, 2019. 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," reads the complaint from the documents.

The suit further alleges that Hemsworth posted the photo willfully and that his intentions were "malicious." This means he may have to pay $150,000 for copyright infringement because of these infractions. The lawsuit then subjected Hemsworth to "liability for statutory damages under Section 504(c)(2) of the Copyright Act in the sum of up to $150,000 per infringement."

"Within the time permitted by law, plaintiff will make its election between actual damages and statutory damages," the documents concluded.

Hemsworth and his representative have yet to respond to the lawsuit. But it came at an inopportune time when he is still dealing with the legalities on his divorce from Miley Cryus.

The actor recently received a notice from the court to finalise their divorce. He needs to attend a court hearing over his case and still has to have the paperworks signed by the "Wrecking Ball" singer. Hemsworth has reportedly already hired a divorce lawyer to help him facilitate the process. He may have to get another lawyer to help him out on his copyright infringement lawsuit.