A Sydney teen is suing three Australian news websites for making fun of his mullet, after a photo of him at a party became the subject of multiple memes. 

Ali Ziggi Mosslmani has claimed that The Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail Australia and KIIS radio subjected him to ridicule through a series of photoshopped photos.  

This Pythagoras-themed meme tickled the district court judge.

The young man was captured on camera with a half-mullet, half-crew cut hairdo, in a photo that was picked up by Australian media after going viral on Facebook. 

Mr Mosslmani's lawyers argued that the publications' coverage was defamatory, as it implied he was a "ridiculous person" and "hideously ugly". 

Judging by submissions filed by the media organisations' defence teams, that is exactly the way the organisations consider him. 

Among the defence's pleas are that "the plaintiff is a joke," and, just as Mr Mosslmani claimed, that "the plaintiff is a ridiculous person."

And while Mr Mosslmani was none-too-pleased by the media coverage, the judge presiding over the preliminary hearing thought he should see the funny side. 

"The plaintiff's striking mullet haircut has generated a great deal of interest on the internet, most of it humorous, and some of it in the form of clever observations, such as the 'Pythagoras' direction [digitally added to the plaintiff's head] in one of the memes," Judge Judith Gibson said. 

She dismissed Mr Mosslmani's claim that the articles suggested he was "hideously ugly" and told him to file an amended statement of claim. The case will continue on November 17.