The Courier-Mail newspaper has been fined $120,000 for identifying a family involved in a custody battle.

The media cannot identify people in Family Court proceedings.

In 2012, The Courier-Mail ran a front-page picture of a mother and four children involved in an international custody dispute and also identified them on other occasions.

District Court judge Terrence Martin said today the newspaper deliberately and blatantly disregarded the law for commercial gain.

The four sisters were living on the Sunshine Coast and went into hiding with a relative after they were ordered to return to their father in Italy.

Their Queensland mother failed to have the court order dismissed.