Sofia Richie is being sued for sharing photographs of herself on Instagram without permission.

Sofia Richie

Sofia Richie

According to documents obtained by TMZ, celebrity photo agency Backgrid are taking legal action after the 19-year-old model shared seven of their pictures with her 3.2 million followers without getting permission or paying.

Sofia shared the snaps of her out and about with a yellow handbag in July 2017 as part of a partnership with Japanese fashion brand Samantha Thavasa.

Backgrid's claims they sent Sofia's lawyers a cease and desist letter in October but the pictured were not taken down.

The agency then spoke to her lawyer and four of the pictures were taken down, but at least two of the snaps can still be seen on her Instagram account as of 3 January, 2018.

Backgrid is seeking compensation for damages and lost profits to the value of around $1 million.

Sofia recently used the same social media account to declare her love for boyfriend Scott Disick.

The youngest daughter of singer Lionel Richie posted a picture of herself and the 34-year-old father-of-three on the picture sharing site and added the caption "Love you kid".

The image shows the pair standing together beside their private jet after landing in Aspen, Colorado, where they are planning to ring in 2018.

The couple have only been dating since May of this year.

Scott - who has three children; Mason, eight, Penelope, five, and Reign, three, with his ex-girlfriend Kourtney Kardashian - has battled with substance abuse on and off for years, but Sofia is said to be "great" at keeping him on the straight and narrow.