Perplexed by Paparazzi

Aspen was once a town where the likes of Jack Nicholson, Jennifer Lopez or Mariah Carey could walk around town unrecognized, and local retailers say paparazzi are ruining it.

A recent visit from Seal turned into a punch-up, and a number of recent incidents have some locals riled as well.

"I'm embarrassed of our community," said Ricki McHugh, owner of McHugh Antiques on Aspen Square. Her store was overrun last week by paparazzi chasing Seal's wife, Heidi Klum. A visit from Jennifer Lopez earlier this week forced her to batten down the hatches against an aggressive mob of photographers.

J-Lo first visited McHugh Antiques on Thursday morning without incident, but when the star and entourage came back in the afternoon, the paparazzi pounced.

"The second time she came back, she was literally being chased down the street," McHugh said. The star eventually slipped behind closed doors and hid behind a painting in McHugh's shop. Photographers took pictures of the flustered star through the store window before she could escape to an awaiting car.

"This town has never been abused by the paparazzi like it is now," McHugh said. "It is embarrassing as a community to have people come to enjoy this beautiful place be harassed."

Read the rest HERE.

COX RECRUITS PAPARAZZI FOR RESEARCH

Former FRIENDS star COURTENEY COX shocked a paparazzo who was trying to snap a picture of her and her family at Disneyland by asking him for his help on her new TV series.

Cox is starring in the new US TV show DIRT about the world of a fictional celebrity tabloid and wanted information to help make the show more authentic.

She explains,"I came up to him and said, 'Look, you can stay in the park, but I need your phone number and I want to do some research for our show with you and he came into the writer's room and talked."

Cox insists the new show isn't about her getting back at celebrity magazines, adding, "This is absolutely no revenge on the tabloid media. "There's no way really to pay back the paparazzi. If anything, it's going to get worse, probably, because if they watch this, I can only imagine it getting worse. "I'm not paying anyone back, it's really just a good TV show."

The Photographer’s Right

A Downloadable Flyer Explaining Your Rights When Stopped or Confronted for Photography

The Photographer’s Right is a downloadable guide that is loosely based on the Bust Card and the Know Your Rights pamphlet that used to be available on the ACLU website. It may be downloaded and printed out using Adobe Acrobat Reader. You may make copies and carry them your wallet, pocket, or camera bag to give you quick access to your rights and obligations concerning confrontations over photography. You may distribute the guide to others, provided that such distribution is not done for commercial gain and credit is given to the author.

Download The Photographer’s Right in PDF format

A Stand for Photographer’s Rights

The right to take photographs in the United States is being challenged more than ever. People are being stopped, harassed, and even intimidated into handing over their personal property simply because they were taking photographs of subjects that made other people uncomfortable. Recent examples have included photographing industrial plants, bridges, buildings, trains, and bus stations. For the most part, attempts to restrict photography are based on misguided fears about the supposed dangers that unrestricted photography presents to society.

Ironically, unrestricted photography by private citizens has played an integral role in protecting the freedom, security, and well-being of all Americans. Photography in the United States has an established history of contributing to improvements in civil rights, curbing abusive child labor practices, and providing important information to crime investigators. Photography has not contributed to a decline in public safety or economic vitality in the United States. When people think back on the acts of domestic terrorism that have occurred over the last twenty years, none have depended on or even involved photography. Restrictions on photography would not have prevented any of these acts. Furthermore, the increase in people carrying small digital and cell phone cameras has resulted in the prevention of crimes and the apprehension of criminals.

As the flyer states, there are not very many legal restrictions on what can be photographed when in public view. Most attempts at restricting photography are done by lower-level security and law enforcement officials acting way beyond their authority. Note that neither the Patriot Act nor the Homeland Security Act have any provisions that restrict photography. Similarly, some businesses have a history of abusing the rights of photographers under the guise of protecting their trade secrets. These claims are almost always meritless because entities are required to keep trade secrets from public view if they want to protect them.

Paparazzi sues celeb blogger for $7.6M

LOS ANGELES - Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton is being stalked by paparazzi in court, at least.

X17 Inc., a Los Angeles photo agency known for its images of stars in personal or embarrassing moments, has filed a $7.6 million federal copyright infringement lawsuit against Hilton.

Hilton's Los Angeles-based site, PerezHilton.com, posts tabloid photos of celebs and adds cheeky captions and rudimentary doodles.

The suit claims Hilton used 51 photographs without permission, payment or credit, including images of a pregnant Katie Holmes, Kevin Federline pumping gas and Britney Spears showing her, um, assets.

"We've had trouble with a lot of bloggers," X17 co-owner Brandy Navarre told the Los Angeles Times for a story on its Web site. "But he's the biggest, and the most arrogant and pigheaded about it, frankly.

"He is stealing our images and costing us money every day," she said.

Hilton, whose real name is Mario Lavandeira, said he believes he has done nothing illegal.

"I am going to vigorously defend myself," he said. "I am willing to step up to the plate and fight for my rights and fight for the rights of all bloggers."

His attorney, Bryan Freedman, said Hilton has a legal right to make satirical or humorous use of newsworthy photographs.

If the copyright lawsuit succeeds, "the effect would be to eliminate the ability to comment on and transform photographs under the fair-use exception to the Copyright Act," Freedman said.

But X17's lawyer, John Tehranian, argued that Hilton "is basically free-riding on the labor and efforts of X17 and its photographers who stay up all night and roam the city."

Seven other photo agencies sent Hilton a joint letter demanding that he stop using their photographs but they have not sued, the Times said.

SHEPHERD Treats Photogs Like Cattle

The Good Shepherd
Ziegfeld Theater, 7pm screening

Arrival area was in the shape of an 'L', two sided on the short side.
Photographers were packed in tight like cattle going to the slaughter.

Talent were relatively cooperative; Matt Damon and wife posed, DeNiro posed (shocking!), Billy Crudup... then Brangelina showed up....

The walked up the middle of the street from 6th ave towards the premiere. Together they walked past the fans smiling and holding hands. They then posed for the photogs.

They posed together along the short side of the 'L', but broke off once they reached the corner. Pitt ran in and Jolie did interviews.

Calling the list was a mess. Universal had their list and we had ours. The list universal list was called, allowing those shooters to take a place first, to be followed by 'our' list.

Things got really fouled up from that point on. Shooters first on the list wound up in the 2nd and third row. People who showed up last, wound up in the front row. Tempers flared as shooters jostled for position.

At 7:30 in the MORNING their were already 8 people waiting. Anyone know what time the first shooter arrived?

Steve Azzara Book Launch on December 8th

Book release party/birthday party.

New York Photographer Steve Azzara launches his 2nd book from Tiger Press,

IMPORTRAITS: The Import Models, while cover model and # 1 East Coast Import Model, Jasmine Mai celebrates her birthday at FLOW 150 Varick Street (between Spring and Vandam)

Jasmine and some 20 other import models will be available for a photo op at 9:30 pm.

These are the beautiful girls you see at car shows around the country throughout the year. Don't miss this one!

Press members are invited for the photo op and to party the night away.
Press MUST RSVP to Tony at JENNARAZZI@AOL.COM

Book can be seen at Importraits.net

Here's a funny outtake from The Holiday premiere.

Thanks to Evan for the pic!

Victoria Beckham's paparazzi snub

Victoria Beckham was snubbed by paparazzi after she tried to control pictures taken of her at an awards ceremony.

Prior to the Bambi arts awards, held in Germany, the former Spice Girl handed out an agreement for photographers to sign which stated she wanted copies of all the snaps and the ability to use them for promotional purposes.

The document limited the number of pictures that could be published of Victoria's gold embroidered Osaka Hilton gown.

It also restricted the snappers from revealing any "confidential information" they might learn about her during the ceremony.

The Associated Press (AP), Reuters and two German photo agencies rejected the agreement, so in desperation organisers drew up a separate agreement allowing them to cover the event as long as they promised only to take photos of Victoria on the red carpet.

AP chose to snub the event altogether while the other photographers agreed but refused to photograph Victoria in protest.

A source said: "The gown was hideous anyway. It looked like a bedspread. What has she got to hide?"

X17online.com Sues PerezHilton.com

Yes, it’s finally happened – after ignoring countless cease and desist notices from numerous photo agencies and media outlets, Mario Lavandeira, a.k.a. Perez Hilton, has been sued in federal court for copyright infringement by X17, Hollywood’s largest celebrity photo agency. X17 contends that Lavandeira, the owner and operator of the celebrity gossip blog PerezHilton.com and the self-styled “Queen of All Media,” has knowingly and willfully used X17’s images on his blog without permission from the agency, thereby violating federal law. Lavandeira’s actions have caused substantial damage to X17’s business in the form of diversion of trade, loss of profits, injury to goodwill and reputation, and the dilution of the value of its rights.

In court papers filed today, X17, the owners of X17online.com, seek over $7.5 million in damages for Lavandeira’s infringing activities.

Mr. Lavandeira has been featured in countless magazines and newspapers and has appeared regularly on various television news outlets in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. GQ listed him in their Man of the Year issue; the AP and the LA Times have profiled him; the New York Post called him one of the 25 most powerful Latinos and he has appeared on almost every major U.S. network commenting on the day’s entertainment headlines. He is said to be shopping around a reality show and he is set to appear on MTV’s New Year’s Eve special. “Perez” claims he receives 2.5 million unique visitors each day on his website.

Mr. Lavandeira has regularly infringed on X17’s large scoops. While it usually takes weeks of effort by a team of photographers and reporters to break a story, for Mr. Lavandeira, it has been as simple as a right-click.

Mr. Lavandeira is profiting through advertisements on his site (one-week ads on his site go for between $9000 - $16,000) and has gained relative fame from the success of his blog, which, X17 contends, is due in large part to the quality and quantity of celebrity images he posts on his site, many of which are owned by X17.

X17 is repped for advertising by Gorilla Nation, the world’s largest online ad rep firm. As X17 made its foray into the world of celebrity blogs, they sought out Gorilla Nation to represent them to the brand marketing community. Gorilla Nation was excited to take on X17online.com as the first and largest celebrity photo agency to start their own website to allow the public direct, free and immediate access to the biggest stories in Hollywood, told with the most sought after images of the stars.

CAMERON DIAZ DAZZLES FOR THE HOLIDAY

The Holiday premiere
November 30, 2006, 7pm
Ziegfeld Theater

Tented arrival area with somewhat cooperative PR.

A-list was placed right after the outside shooters creating a long pap pit.

We did have a few shooters leave, as we were stacked a solid two rows deep and spots were limited. And we had to rip open the tent for ventilation.

Everyone posed. Kate with droopy hair, a stern Jude and a VERY leggy Cameron.
PR was even nice enough to give us a cast shot of Kate, Jude and Cameron.

From my reports there were 18 people on the list at 11am.

K-Fed: "FUCK THE MEDIA! FUCK THE PAPARAZZI!"

Kevin Federline doesn't like the media - and the hate is mutual.

Kevin Federline recently declared himself the most hated man in America.

While on stage at Hollywood's House of Blues recently, K-Fed screamed, "F**k the media, f**k the paparazzi. Maybe because I took their queen I am America's most hated."

Earlier this week, K-Fed was the butt of jokes at the American Music Awards, at which Britney Spears presented an award nomination, while K-Fed's look-a-like doll was booed.

Britney Spears filed for divorce from Federline this month citing irreconcilable differences and since then K-Fed has been blamed for the breakup by the media and fans.

Since the split, there have been rumors the 28-year-old former dancer has been trying to sell a four hour sex tape of him and Britney Spears, but later he has denied the tape ever existed.

The couple have both filed for custody of their two sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James.

K-Fed reportedly wants at least $6 million from his ex-wife, despite signing a prenuptial agreement.

Damon is to keep the paparazzi away

Matt Damon has a genius plan set to keep the paparazzi away from him. He is determined to appear as “a dull persona” and as boring as possible whenever he gives an interview.

As newkerala.com mentions, the “Bourne Identity” star revealed that he was "actively trying" to avoid all the publicity that has dodged his every step for better part of a decade.

"I've worked very hard in interviews to portray a very polite and boring person. I'm actively trying to get away from the over-exposure that happened eight years ago," said Damon quoted by Contactmusic.

Damon, who became a first-time father in June this year when wife Luciana BozBarroso gave birth to the couple's first daughter Isabella, hates press conferences.

The only time he will willingly appear in front of the cameras, is when he's promoting his newest film.

The reason why Hollywood hunk not often gave interviews is because the only thing they do is "hurt" an actor's career.

"The only thing a celebrity can do in one of these articles is hurt their own career. If I give you a really good interview, am I going to get a movie out of it? F**k no! So what's the argument for saying anything, unless you have this rampaging need to please?" also said Matt.

Hilary Tricks Paparazzi

Hilary Duff has found a way to fool invasive paparazzi.

Duff recently told Jane magazine, that if she's ever arguing with boyfriend Joel Madden and the photogs are trying to snap pictures, they'll just smile and laugh pretending everything is okay. Duff says the couple will forget they were fighting in the first place.

WOW...she's VERY clever.
Now why do we care about her?

TomKat ado ignites Dolce Vita in Rome

ROME - Poised with his camera outside Rome‘s elegant Hassler hotel, the so-called King of Paparazzi is waiting to get a shot.

"The Dolce Vita is back!" Rino Barillari exclaimed triumphantly, referring to the 1960 Fellini movie that coined the word "paparazzi" and gave the world the image of the glamorous Swedish star Anita Ekberg splashing around Trevi fountain.

It‘s Friday — five days since Tom Cruise first landed in Rome ahead of his highly awaited, Saturday wedding with Katie Holmes , expected to take place at a 15th-century castle in the lakeside town of Bracciano, 27 miles north of Rome.

On Wednesday, at last, Cruise and Holmes left the hotel for a late-night visit to City Hall, sending paparazzi chasing after them on motor scooters through the capital‘s streets.

"I got some good pictures," Barillari said cheerfully in a telephone interview.

His Web site features the logo, "The King of Paparazzi," and his battle cry is "War is war!" His subjects have included Liz Taylor and Richard Burton, Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra and Peter O‘Toole.

"This is the wedding of the century. In the whole world they will be demanding the most beautiful pictures," Barillari gushed.

VIP guests who have been spotted in Rome in the past couple of days include Jennifer Lopez and her singer husband Marc Anthony , Will Smith , Brooke Shields , Jim Carrey , and soccer star David Beckham and his wife, Victoria.

The good news is there is money to be made merely by getting pictures of some of Cruise and Holmes‘ guests, Barillari and other photographers said.

Still Barillari insists "the good times are back," citing as well this year‘s inaugural Rome Film Festival, which brought such stars as Cruise‘s ex, Nicole Kidman , to the Italian capital.

Paparazzi King Gets Face Bashed In

Blood streamed down the face of "Celebrities Uncensored" paparazzi guru E.L. Woody after a late night argument turned violent outside of Area nightclub in Hollywood.

It all went down as Brody Jenner exited the club, smiling and waving to waiting shutterbugs. While Woody photographed him, a random clubgoer approached and began shouting, "What are you doing? You don't need to shoot him, leave him alone." According to Woody, the man then broke a microphone off of another photog's camera.

Woody says he quickly approached the attacker and told him that he would have to pay for the damaged camera. That's when things got bloody. According to Woody, the man then grabbed another mic and smashed Woody in the face with it, opening a bloody gash above his left eye.

Private security quickly threw the alleged attacker in handcuffs and tossed him in the back of a security vehicle, while a battered Woody screamed at him. "Look what you did to my face? If you can't handle your liquor, you shouldn't be out! I don't care who you are, you're going to jail!"

E.L. Woody is scheduled to undergo a CATscan at a local hospital and will get stiches later today. Woody tells TMZ he will definitely file charges.

Cruise-Holmes wedding recalls Rome's Dolce Vita

La Dolce Vita is back.

Rome basked in Hollywood glamour on Friday as paparazzi gave chase to Tom Cruise and his bride-to-be Katie Holmes, along with a jetload of celebrity guests, ahead of their wedding on Saturday in a lakeside town north of the Italian capital.

"La Dolce Vita returns to the Tiber" and "Hollywood decamps to Rome" read Italian newspaper headlines, reviving memories of the 1950s and '60s when the Eternal City teemed with film stars.

A medieval castle in the lakeside town of Bracciano, 40 km (25 miles) north of Rome, has been tipped as the venue for Saturday's wedding, although seasoned showbusiness watchers do not rule out a last-minute change of plan to outwit the media.

"I just came to have a good time in Italy," American movie star Will Smith told reporters after landing at Ciampino airport on Friday.

Jim Carrey, Jennifer Lopez, Jada Pinkett Smith, Brooke Shields and "Mission: Impossible III" director J.J. Abrams are among the guests already here for the nuptials. John Travolta, who shares Cruise's Scientologist faith, was also expected.

Shields, who last year had a public spat with Cruise as he criticized her for taking medication to treat post-partum depression, braved the waiting photographers for a shopping stroll around the Spanish Steps.

UPDATE: Denise Richards Won't Be Charged

Police said Friday that Denise Richards won't face charges for throwing two laptop computers over a balcony in a tussle with paparazzi in western Canada.

The actress was accused of hurling two laptops from a balcony at the River Rock Casino and Hotel on Wednesday, hitting two elderly women below.

The incident occurred after two photographers tried to snap pictures of Richards by gaining unauthorized access to the set where she's filming a movie with actress Pamela Anderson.

The 90-and 81-year-old women were sitting in the lobby when the computers hit them on their arms, causing minor injuries.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Cpl. Peter Thiessen says it's not in the public interest to bring criminal charges.

He says the photographers, Richards and her management company have agreed to settle the matter civilly regarding the damages to the photographers' laptops.

HONORING ALL WHO SERVED

Crowe blames press for his ‘paparazzi-hater’ image

Academy Award winner Russell Crowe has blasted the media for portraying him as a violent man.

Though he admits that he has made many mistakes in the past, he insists that he is not as regularly involved in fights as the media depicts him to be.

Crowe, who was arrested last year for assaulting a hotel employee with a telephone in New York, expressed frustration over reports on his fights with paparazzi.

"There is a lot of just intentional misinformation, as well. I''ve never had a fight with a photographer, for example, but you can find hundreds of articles on the net which will list me fighting with paparazzi, something I do apparently on a regular basis,” Contactmusic quoted him as saying.

"But that''s just not true. I just don''t bother letting it bug me anymore, and because it doesn''t bug me, in this odd way, it happens less," he said.

Meanwhile, according to reports, Crowe has revealed that he was shocked while shooting for ‘American Gangster’ in New York, as the film’s police supervisor was the same one who had taken his mug shots after his arrest in the telephone assault case.

Crowe was arrested and charged with second-degree assault in connection with an incident at the Mercer Hotel where he threw a telephone at a clerk, who refused to help him phone his wife in Australia.

Denise Richards scuffles with paparazzi in B.C.

Hollywood actress Denise Richards got in a scuffle with a paparazzi photographer Wednesday in Vancouver, where she is shooting her new film "Blonde and Blonder."

A laptop computer was hurled and a senior citizen was injured during the bizarre clash, according to reports.

Richards, whose on again, off again relationship with actor Charlie Sheen has been targeted by the tabloids, was filming a scene at the River Rock Casino Resort in the Vancouver suburb of Richmond.

According to eyewitnesses, Richards spotted two unauthorized photographers shooting pictures from a balcony, and stormed upstairs to confront them.

"At one point Denise was observed to grab the laptop of one of the photographers and throw it over the balcony. The laptop hit on the way down an elderly woman on the arm," eTalk gossip blogger Elaine (Lainey) Lui told CTV Vancouver.

The 80-year-old woman was only slightly injured, according to witnesses.

Cpl. Peter Thiessen, a media relations officer for the Richmond RCMP told People magazine that officers were called to the casino.

He confirmed Lainey's report, saying Richards threw the laptop off the balcony, after which it "struck an 80-year-old women in a wheelchair. It struck her in the arm. She was not interested in pursuing criminal charges and suffered only minor injuries."

The River Rock Casino Resort told CTV Vancouver the photographers did not have permission to be on the premises.

Richards was interviewed by police, along with her costar, B.C. native Pamela Anderson, about the incident.

The film production company agreed to pay for the damages to the photographers' computer, Thiessen said.

A representative of the Blonde and Blonder film told People there were no serious injuries and the event was getting blown out of proportion.

Filming was reportedly halted for an hour because cast members were upset about the incident.

"Blonde and Blonder" is described as "Legally Blonde" meets "Dumb and Dumber."