Non-Legislative Regional Task Force Also Takes Aim at Paparazzi

• City Reps Seek Restrictive Laws

BY ANNE SOBLE

Last Thursday’s meeting of a regional task force convened by Los Angeles City Councilmember Dennis Zine “is not a legislative body,” he declared, as representatives—all there officially but Malibu Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich—from L.A., Malibu, Calabasas, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood explored issues related to “unsafe” activities of the paparazzi.
Views ran the gamut from Zine’s “they act like a pack of wolves, stalking their prey” to West Hollywood Councilmember John Duran’s reflection that “one person’s garbage tabloid story is another person’s major news story.”
Similarly, perspectives were affected by recognition that in Beverly Hills, “star home tours are big business,” and West Hollywood’s residents believe that the creative processes that make Southern California the entertainment center that it is require the “artistic freedom” provided by unfettered First Amendment rights.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca was present. He said he was there to “listen.” LAPD Police Chief William Bratton sent a report, but indicated that he did not attend because he thought the “meeting was a waste of time.”
Bratton said celebrities are not entitled to any protections that are not available to the public at large, and the laws now on the books adequately cover the concerns expressed by the elected officials.
Serving as ostensible poster boys for the need to enact stringent laws to redress celebrity abuses were rock musician John Mayer, who said this must be important because “you got a rock star out of bed at 8 a.m.,” and actors Milo Ventimiglia and Eric Roberts.
The trio uniformly called for legal constraints to prevent paparazzi from endangering lives and “causing celebrities to name their children after fruit.” They all agreed that they love their fame, but they want it on their terms.
They and representatives from the Screen Actors Guild put strong emphasis on the need for credentialing, licensing and forms of legal redress in case of the need to seek damages.
They said that while acknowledging what are described as serious First Amendment concerns that are critical to the entertainment industry.
Mayer actually may have been on target when he said, “We live in a brand new [technological] world, the etiquette is not outlined yet. Right now the term paparazzi is as loose as the term porn star.”
Even as Mayer said, “It’s not about the photographer, it’s about the behavior,” he asked whether paparazzi vehicles could be required have a “P” on their license plates.
Conley Ulich’s contribution to the suggestion box was a “separate 9-1-1 number for celebrities.” They would get identification numbers known only to law enforcement agencies.
Nick Stern, a British celebrity photographer, told the panel that “there’s a lot of collusion between celebrities, their agencies and the publications” that buy celebrity photos.
Stern said these celeb-oriented media want the paparazzi to be independent contractors “so there’s no accountability,” and said he thought that licensing would end that.
One city rep asked whether the Internal Revenue Service might get involved because large cash transactions and undeclared income may be involved. The federal immigration agency was also mentioned, as panelists indicated they think many of the paparazzi are foreign nationals in the United States on expired tourist visas.
The consensus was that test laws should be proposed that attempt to stretch the First Amendment to address the privacy and public safety issues that drive the participants’ concerns.
At one point in the meeting, Zine said “Malibu has contracted with Ken Starr to draft a law.” Conley Ulich tried to explain that she is a task force of one, but the L.A. council member continued to refer to all the participants as representatives of their cities.
Legal scholars and journalism interest groups are starting to weigh in on all of the extremely complex issues that are involved, and who represents whom is going to take on increased importance.