Life is far stranger than fiction... and
sometimes far more amusing. Out-spoken purveyor of American
sensibilities, Barbara Streisand, who sued a California
Conservationist last year over pictures of most of the California
coastline that happened to include her home is digging her heels in
over the legal fees she was ordered to pay after she LOST the
suit.
Streisand sued Adelman for $50 million May 20th, after his
website, which photographically traces the California coast,
published an aerial photograph of her estate, among many thousands
of others. The photographs were among about 12,700, many of which
highlight overdevelopment along the water's edge.
Adelman, a 39-year old Silicon Valley millionaire, took the
pictures while his wife, Gabrielle, flew the R-44. The helicopter
was flown southeast-bound along the coast at altitudes ranging from
150 to 2000ft, but typically 500-700ft, depending on the terrain,
detail, and air traffic control constraints. The port-side rear
door was removed, giving the photographer an unobstructed view of
the coast -- including the Streisand estate -- causing her suit
over an alleged violation of privacy.
The lawsuit "sought to
reaffirm that everyone should have the right to retain their
privacy, in their home, even in this technologically invasive age,"
according to Streisand lawyer John Gatti.
After the ruling, Adelman attorney Richard Kendall said Superior
Court Judge Allan Goodman sent a message: Environmental activists
have a right to fly where they want in public airspace and take
pictures of whatever they want. To have ruled any other way, said
Kendall, would have given the likes of Streisand "ownership" of
vistas and making them off-limits to photographers -- even from
several hundred feet above.
"That seemed absurd," Kendall said. "Many people familiar with
privacy law agreed with us that the case was not well-founded."
After finding against Streisand, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge
Allan J. Goodman awarded legal fees to the California Coastal
Records Project and its founder Kenneth Adelman.
Adelman's camp thought that their victory, "...reaffirms the
public’s First Amendment right to participate in matters of
public significance, a Los Angeles Superior Court issued a 46 page
opinion today holding that Barbara Streisand, the well-known
entertainer and Hollywood celebrity, abused the judicial process by
filing a lawsuit against aerial archivist Ken Adelman, his Internet
Service Provider Layer42.NET, and Pictopia.COM. The court also
firmly rejected Streisand’s request for an injunction to
force the removal of a panoramic photographic frame that happens to
include her sprawling blufftop estate from Adelman’s website,
www.Californiacoastline.org.
A jubilant Adelman expressed gratification at the court’s
ruling. “My goal in bringing the Anti-SLAPP motion was to
protect the integrity of this historic photographic database of the
California coast and to ensure that the public continues to have
unfettered access to the photographs and the other data it
provides,” Adelman said. Lawsuits that seek to suppress
public participation and free speech are referred to as SLAPP suits
- Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation. The California
Legislature enacted the Anti-SLAPP Statute to stop the increasing
use by large corporate polluters of these meritless lawsuits that
sought to silence the “valid exercise” of the
constitutional right of freedom of speech of grassroots
activists.
However; now that it's
time for Streisand to pay for her legal assault against Adelman and
associates, she's trying a number of excuses to avoid paying the
$220,000 legal bills (an amount that is reportedly NOT out of line
for a suit of this magnitude) presented by his legal team. Under
California law, a "prevailing defendant on a special motion shall
be entitled to recover his or her attorney's fees and costs."
Instead of writing a check, though, Streisand is allegedly using a
number of excuses and questions to try and undermine the bills
presented to her in favor of a lesser amount. Tired of the delays,
Adelman's legal team has filed a motion seeking a court order to
compel Streisand to pay up and quit making excuses.
ANN is keeping an eye on this story and will let you know if
Babs pays up...