Angie's kids 'safer' in France
2008-06-11 15:58
Paris - What more could Brangelina ask for? In southern France, they have blue skies, vineyards and an estate with a moat. But their new digs come with a bonus: French law is tough on paparazzi, especially when they snap stars' children.
The laws might come in handy after the birth of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's twins - particularly if, as reports say, they hope to turn the tables on the paparazzi by selling rights to the first baby pictures for millions of dollars.
In France, where the Jolie-Pitts are believed to be setting up house to prepare for the births of children Nos 5 and 6, other celebrities have waged war on gossip magazines with relentless, precedent-setting lawsuits.
Often, the tactic pays: Monaco's royal family grossed $681 120 through lawsuits in France in 2006, the newspaper Le Figaro has reported. On top of fines, magazines are regularly ordered to slap huge "mea culpa" notices across their covers.
"This country is medieval in terms of its legislation about printing information about celebrities," fumed Loic Sellin, editor of glossy Voici magazine. "It's shameful. Absolutely everything can be considered an attack on someone's private life."
Already in the open
The four Jolie-Pitt children - 6-year-old Maddox, 4-year-old Pax and 3-year-old Zahara, who are adopted, and 2-year-old Shiloh - are an exception, simply because they have been seen out in public so often.
But if any magazines were to obtain snapshots of Jolie and her as-yet-unborn twins, two French lawyers say they would counsel them to blur the babies' faces in most cases. Jolie has said in the past that the babies are due in August but there has been no further word.
"Let's say she went to the French Open with her children, I would say, 'she's out in public and knows she'll be seen, there's no reason to ban the photo,"' said lawyer Daphne Juster, who regularly defends photographers. "But if she's strolling in the park in sunglasses, minding her own business, she could say, 'I tried to be discreet, this is not part of my public life,' and can sue."
Emmanuel Pierrat, who defends both gossip magazines and celebrities, said he might urge magazines to run photos of the babies snuggling up against their mother, or turned from the camera, so their faces do not show. Of course, he says, "some would take the risk anyway."
In which case, he said, there would be an added incentive for Jolie and Pitt to sue. The bidding war for exclusive photos of the twins has reached $15m according to an unconfirmed report on TMZ.com, the celebrity-gossip site.
For the birth of Shiloh, the couple sold exclusive photos to People magazine for a reported $4m and donated the money to charity.
- AP