California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a bill to help protect celebrities from the intrusive paparazzi.
The bill aims to protect celebrities and their families when they are involved in “personal or familial activity.” It also includes an amendment that allows litigation against those media outlets who choose to purchase and publish photos that they know were shot illegally. Schwarzenegger himself was a victim to aggressive paparazzi in 1998 after being boxed in by two of their vehicles while picking his children up from school. So yeah, he gets it.
The bill takes effect in January, 2010. Photographers who choose to break this law will face fines up to $50,000.
So it looks like we are going to see the celebrities fight back next year! It will be interesting to see how many paparazzi will actually be sued, or media outlets for that matter. Blogs even? Who knows. It has gotten quite out of hand. These guys cram their cameras up skirts, they climb trees and sometimes they even cause accidents – just to get a picture. So yeah, I think it’s a good idea, but will it really work?
I hope this will work. What they do is often not only stupid and offensive, but in some cases indeed life-threatening for their ‘victims’. And let’s not forget that what the paparazzi do has really nothing to do with the fine arts of photography or even with professionalism.
Unfortunately, the downside of this bill may result in much higher prizes for the same crap. And the paparazzi in jail will be the fun part.
So, let’s wait and see. I’ll be looking forward to the first law suits
This is great news. But this will probably chance the face of celeb blogging. Wonder what’s gonna happen next.
-meream