Sarah Palin sued by North Jersey Media Group Inc. for copyright infringement over 9/11 photo

North Jersey Media Group Inc. is suing Sarah Palin and her political action committee for a copyright infringement over the use of an iconic 9/11 photo.

The publisher is suing the former Alaska governer for posting a copy of the image on Sarah Palin’s SarahPAC website and her personal Facebook page without permission.

The photo depicts three New York City firefighters hoisting an American flag among the rubble at the World Trade Center after the 2001 attacks.

The lawsuit filed Friday in Manhattan asks a federal court to stop SarahPAC from using the picture. It also seeks unspecified damages.

NJMG publishes The Record and Herald News newspapers as well as 40 weekly community papers, a dozen magazines and two websites.

The indelible Ground Zero image depicting soot-covered first responders was taken by The Record photographer Thomas E. Franklin.

According to the lawsuit, the copyright on the photo was registered in October 2001, Newsday reported.

A year later, the U.S. Postal Service used the image on a stamp called “Heroes”, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.

The NJMG federal suit says that by using the picture “to promote Sarah Palin and to raise money for SarahPAC” the 2008 vice-presidential candidate has “irreparably damaged” the newspaper company.

The photo was pulled from Sarah Palin’s Facebook page Friday, according to The Alaska Dispatch.

It had drawn more than 140,000 “likes” and some 1,500 comments.