California Governor Schwarzenegger Inks Tough Anti-Paparazzi Amendment
LOS ANGELES, CA (October 13, 2009) — California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today signed an anti-paparazzi bill making it easier to sue media outlets that use photos that invade celebrities' privacy, AP reports today.
The former Terminator movie star has signed an amendment to a decade-old law that allows fines against paparazzi who illegally or offensively take photographs or recordings. The amendment permits lawsuits against media outlets that pay for and make first use of material they knew was improperly obtained.
In 1998 Schwarzenegger had his car surrounded by paparazzi as he picked up his child from school. Other stars have had car accidents while trying to flee swarms of photographers.
The governor also has no current love for the paparazzi. The wife of the Terminator movie star, Maria Shriver, was recently photographed by a paparazzi as she was talking on a cell phone while driving, an act that is illegal to do in her husband's state.
The amendment Schwarzenegger signed this weekend takes effect in January.
The amendment to the 11-year-old law which made it illegal for photographers to trespass, both physically and constructively, with the intention of photographing celebrities engaged in personal and familial activities in a "manner that is offensive to a reasonable person" – now allows plaintiffs to file suit against any media organization that sells, transmits or publishes an image knowing it was obtained through such illegal trespass.
Though it is nearly impossible to bring a successful case against a paparazzi under the old law, media advocates worry its expansion to include third-party media outlets could have a chilling effect on news gathering.
"Nobody is ever going to be able to successfully prosecute one of these actions," said Tom Newton, general counsel at the California Newspaper Publishers Association. "Nevertheless, the initiation of even meritless lawsuits has a chilling effect on legitimate news gatherers."
In 1997 after the death of Princess Diana in an auto accident in a tunnel in Paris, NPPA issued a press release highlighting the difference between legitimate photojournalists who are working on assignment for mainstream news organizations and the paparazzi after some in the media and French police implicated paparazzi for possibly being involved in the accident that caused Diana's death.
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