Berry angry at 'invasive' baby pictures

Halle Berry is taking legal action against a paparazzi photographer who she claims trespassed on her private property and snapped her holding her baby daughter in her garden.

The Oscar-winning actress was upset when pictures of her holding four-month-old Nahla Ariela Aubry appeared on the internet and in two celebrity magazines.

In a statement, Berry disputes the notion that the photos were taken when she was "out and about in Los Angeles".

Evan Spiegel, a lawyer representing Berry, said a criminal complaint had been filed and an investigation was under way. He said witnesses saw the photographer in the middle of a "very blatant and invasive trespass".

A person who answered the phone at Fame Pictures, the agency that distributed the photos, said he had no immediate comment yesterday.

Besides pursuing criminal charges against the photographer, Berry is seeking to get the photos removed from the web. In a statement she said she would never sell pictures of her children.

"I have long since come to terms with the fact that choosing a career as an actress has made me a public figure, but my baby has made no such choice, and unless and until she does, I will do everything I can ... to keep her out of the public eye," the statement read.

The photos, some of which have blurred leaves in the foreground, show Berry holding her daughter, standing near a table in what appears to be a private back garden. Berry's mother is also in some of the pictures.

Berry said she wanted anyone who used the photos to know they were obtained illegally.

In Touch Weekly and Life & Style Weekly both published the photos in editions that landed on newsstands this week.

"In Touch Weekly and Life & Style Weekly licensed the photograph of Halle Berry and her baby from an established photo agency. The magazines are not aware that there was anything improper in the taking of this image," a spokesman for the magazines' publisher, Bauer Publications, said.

Berry gave birth to Nahla, her first child, in March. Nahla's father, model Gabriel Aubry, was not seen in the photos.

Berry's action against the paparazzi comes at a time when their tactics are coming under increased scrutiny.

A pair of photographers were arrested in Los Angeles this week near Britney Spears' home because they refused to leave a fire access road. Their hilltop vantage point offered them views of the pop singer's exclusive gated community.

A regional task force meets in Los Angeles next week to discuss the paparazzi, and Berry's statement was issued on the same day a pair of photographers scuffled in France with security staff for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.