Judge Rejects Streisand Privacy Suit

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Wednesday effectively tossed out Barbra Streisand's invasion-of-privacy lawsuit against an environmental activist who posted an aerial photo of her bluff-top Malibu home on a Web site alongside 12,000 other pictures of the California coastline.

The singer and actress wanted the photo of her mansion removed and sought $10 million in damages for what she said was invasion of her privacy, use of a likeness of her property without authorization and violation of the state's anti-paparazzi law.

Judge Allan J. Goodman, in a tentative 46-page ruling, wrote that Streisand's privacy had not been invaded by Ken Adelman, a retired software engineer who has photographed almost all of the 1,100-mile California coastline to show its splendors and push for its protection.

Nor did Adelman act like a paparazzo or intrude upon her seclusion when he flew past taking pictures every few seconds from his helicopter at an altitude of about 500 feet, the judge ruled.

"This is not a circumstance in which a helicopter hovered over the plaintiff's backyard in order to photograph her in that location," the judge wrote. The one photo in question, he wrote, did not show Streisand or any other person. It is, he wrote, nothing more than a picture of her backyard, and the backyards of her neighbors by a passing aircraft and "none worthy of more than a passing glance."

"Air travel is a commonplace of modern society and recreational or purposeful flights over the California coastline are commonplace events that people who chose to live in the area must accommodate," Goodman wrote. "There was no serious invasion in this case

The judge also wrote that the California coastline, far from being a private place, is "an area of intense public interest and concern'' and characterized Streisand as "a voluntary public figure who speaks out on environmental issues and has a matter involving her coastal real property pending before a local planning agency." Streisand is seeking permission to expand one of the houses on her coastal estate.

The judge has 30 days to make corrections to his temporary ruling, but he indicated that he would grant Adelman's motion to dismiss the suit as frivolous, and order Streisand to pay Adelman's attorney's fees.

"It's a clean sweep," Adelman said. "We won on everything, including attorney's fees." He said he hadn't added up his legal bills, but estimated they exceed $100,000.