Papparazzi

The term paparazzi means freelance photographers who sell photographs of celebrities to the media, especially ones who pursue celebrities and attempt to obtain candid photographs.
Do we need stronger laws to protect people from paparazzis? That is the question that is being asked by many experts to deal with the issue of privacy. The California civil code states that A person is liable for physical invasion of privacy
when the defendant knowingly enters onto the land of another person
without permission or otherwise committed a trespass in order to
physically invade the privacy of the plaintiff with the intent to
capture any type of visual image, sound recording, or other physical
impression of the plaintiff engaging in a personal or familial
activity and the physical invasion occurs in a manner that is
offensive to a reasonable person.
(b) A person is liable for constructive invasion of privacy when
the defendant attempts to capture, in a manner that is offensive to a
reasonable person, any type of visual image, sound recording, or
other physical impression of the plaintiff engaging in a personal or
familial activity under circumstances in which the plaintiff had a
reasonable expectation of privacy, through the use of a visual or
auditory enhancing device, regardless of whether there is a physical
trespass, if this image, sound recording, or other physical
impression could not have been achieved without a trespass unless the
visual or auditory enhancing device was used.


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The issue with public places is very complicated when celebrities or public figures are in open public places. The fact that a person is in a public place should not give anyone the right to be with cameras at a very close distance.
When it comes to personal life there should be a clear limit and the common law system leaves a door open to continuous interpretation.
In other countries celebrities and public figures go through the same problems with paparazzi. A world known case is the one that occurred in 1997 with Princess Diana in France. Dodi Al Fayed and the vehicle's driver were also killed in the collision in a tunnel under the Place de l'Alma in the centre of the city.
The princess' Mercedes car was apparently being pursued at high speed by photographers on motorbikes when it hit a pillar and smashed into a wall.
Mr Al Fayed and the chauffeur died at the scene but the princess and her bodyguard were cut from the wreckage and rushed to hospital.


The story became a movie and it clearly shows what a paparazzi is willing to do in order to take a good photograph.
Paparazzi hide everywhere and anywhere famous people are followed all day long. If we pick some form of media TMZ is a website that can keep you updated on anything celebrities do from grocery shopping to tanning salon and if we stop and think about it who is interesting in this kind of things? Apparently a lot of people are because there wouldn’t be as much magazines and media dealing with the same topics every week.

The conclusion I can make is that there should be more laws to control paparazzi. In most countries this issue is being discussed and it involves the role of the media, freedom of press and privacy laws.