Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

Last month's controversial "Bowl of Skittles" tweet is drawing some legal heat for Donald Trump and those closest to his campaign for president.

The image set off a Twitter tempest in September after it was included in a tweet sent by Donald Trump Jr. that compared Syrian refugees to poisoned Skittles. The tweet, which was designed to support his father's strong opposition to allowing Syrian refugees into the US, garnered a swift condemnation from across the social network.

But David Kittos filed a lawsuit Tuesday in an Illinois federal court that the photo used in the tweet is his and used without his permission. Kittos, a photographer who shares much of his work on Flickr, is suing both Trumps, the Trump campaign and vice presidential candidate Mike Pence for copyright infringement.

Kittos said in his complaint that the image in question was taken as an experiment in light and posted to his account on the photo-sharing site with an All Rights Reserved copyright notice. Making matters worse for the Greek-Cypriot is that he's a refugee himself, having left Cyprus at age 6 when it was under Turkish occupation.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and an injunction to prevent further copyright infringement.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.