Rare photographs of Osama Bin Laden were broadcast by the ABC television network without the Egyptian photographers' permission, according to a lawsuit filed in the US District Court.

Essam Mohamed Aly Deraz is seeking US$10 million in damages in the lawsuit filed on Thursday. He is claiming copyright infringement and is asking a judge to prohibit the network or any of its affiliates from using the photographs.

ABC News Vice-President Jeffrey Schneider said: "We have not been served with a lawsuit and don't have any comment."

In 1998, Deraz twice agreed to allow the network to use his photographs on a one-time only basis for which he was paid US$7,000 and US$8,000 respectively, the lawsuit states. But the network continued to use the photographs without Deraz's authorization.

Deraz also claims the network never gave him attribution in the newscasts for the photographs of Bin Laden.

Source: China Daily