Barbara Streisand Ordered To Pay Legal Fees In Aerial Photo Suit

Not only did singer Barbara Streisand lose her privacy invasion lawsuit against conservationist Ken Adelman, but now she has to pay his legal fees.

Well, most of them. Of the $220,000 Adelman (shown above with his wife) reportedly incurred in legal costs to fight Streisand's lawsuit, the singer has been ordered to pay him $177,000, according to the website Smoking Gun.

Streisand had sued Ken Adelman and his wife for pictures they took of her estate in Malibu (CA) while photographing the entire California coast -- a project Adelman has been working on for almost 30 years. His goal is to chart the changes brought on by development and pollution along the coast. So he flies up and down the coast in his Robinson R-44, working on the California Coastal Project.

But, as ANN has reported, Streisand has a big problem with that. Here's what we wrote in March, 2003:

"The photographs of the Plaintiff's property and residence, which Plaintiff (Streisand) believes were shot by Adelman from a helicopter piloted by his wife flying overhead on the beach side of the property, are extremely well-taken with equipment that reflects the most cutting-edge visual technology," states Streisand's lawyer in the lawsuit. "So much so, that the photographs of the Plaintiff's property are shot at a very fine (high) resolution thus showing details that would be impossible to see via the naked eye while viewing from a public vantage point....

"Moreover," the suit continues, "the web site identifies the property location by its longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates and by showing its location on a map, and names the home the "Streisand Estate, Malibu.... The clarity with which the details of her private residence are paraded on the World Wide Web for all to see has caused Plaintiff considerable anxiety."

The judge found that Adelman and his wife had not violated Streisand's right to privacy. Their photo ship never flew over her property, instead flying a couple of miles off the coast. Photos of her estate were among thousands posted on the California Coastline Project site.

This would appear to be the end of the lawsuit. That is, unless   Streisand requires a curtain call in court by way of an appeal...

FMI: www.californiacoastline.org