New law puts 'stalkerazzi' in the frame

They lurk in bushes, camp in cars and hover in helicopters. Some are brazen enough to openly brandish their cameras, like old Western gunslingers.

The paparazzi may be hated, but their work – candid pictures of celebrities in unguarded moments – rakes in huge sums of money and is circulated worldwide.

As the public hungers for more and more glossy gossip, the snappers have grown ever more relentless and ruthless. But from tomorrow, a tough new California law aims to crack down on the most aggressive of the paparazzi pack, dubbed “stalkerazzi”.

Photographers who forcefully thrust their cameras into famous faces or crash their car into a celebrity’s vehicle will now be liable for three times the damages they inflict, plus lose any payments their published photos might earn. And publishers can also be held liable.

“Now the paparazzi are going to have to think twice about chasing down a celebrity anywhere in California,” said Assemblywoman Cindy Montanez, who drafted the Bill, signed into law in October by California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The former Hollywood action star-turned politician had an infamous paparazzi moment in 1998 when snappers used their cars to surround his off-roader as he and wife Maria Shriver picked up one of their children from school.

The new law was inspired by a rash of recent celebrity car chases, Montanez said. In May, a photographer following Lindsay Lohan crashed into the actress’ car in West Los Angeles. The photographer was booked for assault with a deadly weapon, but prosecutors found insufficient evidence to press charges.

In August, actress Scarlett Johansson was involved in a minor car crash in a Disneyland car park after being followed by paparazzi, and actress Reese Witherspoon said photographers tried to run her car off the road in April.

No criminal charges resulted from those incidents, but the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office was continuing to investigate aggressive paparazzi tactics, said spokeswoman Jane Robison.

Montanez said the new legislation “targets those who break the law in their attempt to get the photograph”.

Some celebrity snappers think the new law is needed to curb increasingly aggressive behaviour, but others call it unfair, unnecessary – and possibly unconstitutional.

Although the legislation was aimed at paparazzi photographers, it could have “a chilling effect” on newspapers and other media, said Jim Ewert, legal counsel for the California Newspaper Publishers Association.

“This law now gives (celebrities) the ability to quash a photograph, and potentially a story (resulting from the photograph), with a frivolous lawsuit in an attempt to keep the public from being informed,” he said.

“The constitution demands a little bit higher standard before the government puts the kibosh on a newspaper’s ability to publish that story.”

But Montanez insisted the law was “specifically crafted in a way so there is no infringement on the rights of journalists”.

“This is about paparazzi who wait and hunt the celebrities, their prey, until they catch the celebrity in a state of compromise,” she said. “They engage in assaultive behaviour and we can’t condone that.”

Long-time celebrity photographer Frank Griffin, co-owner of the Bauer-Griffin photo agency – which bills itself as “The Hollywood Hunt Club” – said existing laws already covered attempted assaults and that the new law unfairly targeted celebrity photographers.

“Why should there be different standards for a hard-news photographer and a celebrity photographer?” he said.

With the proliferation of photo-filled, celebrity-centred magazines, more paparazzi have emerged to fill the pages with images of the rich and famous. The more exclusive the photo, the bigger the pay cheque, says former celebrity photographer Brad Elterman.

Shots of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner with their new baby, for example, could be worth £280,000, he said. Even less exclusive pictures of hot stars could sell for £5,600 or more.

“The business is driven by money,” Elterman said. “The guys who take the pictures don’t care how they get the photo because they have nothing to lose.”