Judge Tosses Streisand Aerial Photos Lawsuit

from the thin-skinned,-indeed dept

Remember back in June when Barbara Streisand filed a lawsuit against Ken Adelman for photographing her home as part of his effort to photograph the entire west coast of the US for environmental purposes? Despite the fact that it was one of many thousands of photos, shows very little detail and was taken from public airspace, Streisand claimed it violated her privacy. Well, now a judge has looked at the suit, scoffed, and tossed it out, saying that the lawsuit actually infringed on Adelman's right to free speech. Once again, this is an example of trying to hide something online - and in the process drawing a lot more attention to it. If Streisand hadn't spoken up, very few people would even know the photo existed. Now, millions do - and it's all completely legal.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    Gary Collins, 4 Dec 2003 @ 10:10am

    Right on

    First as to the story - indeed, the first I heard of this story was the news that the suit was thrown out. I visited the site, and I couldn't get over how NICE it is.

    Usually Streisand is on the correct (note, not 'Right' ha ha) side of issues, but on this one, her mania for privacy has overriden her common sense. That Adelman Coastline website is very cool and actually has pro-environmental use!

    On the bigger point, I agree that wrong-thinking people [and right-wing morons in particular] shoot themselves in the foot when they complain about things, only drawing more attention to things they want to have ignored. As Fox learned with the Franken book. Other entities that have benefited include the Simpsons, South Park and even 2 Live Crew back in the day...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Bite Me Fool, 4 Dec 2003 @ 1:39pm

      Re: Right on

      Her "mania for privacy" did not overide her common sense. You can't overide what you don't have. Streisand and you are both typical, self-rightous, left-wing moron, liberal assholes.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Frank, 4 Dec 2003 @ 7:51pm

        Re: Right on

        Yes, well I guess Mike should stop all postings now that you've used the "liberal" word. Always nice when someone throws out a label in attempt to stifle adverse opinions. Works great for morning talk show hosts, but not too great on web message boards.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Bite Me Fool, 5 Dec 2003 @ 6:25am

          Re: Right on

          Yes, well I guess Mike should stop all postings now that you've used the "conservative" word. Always nice when someone throws out a label in attempt to stifle adverse opinions. Works great for morning talk show hosts, but not too great on web message boards.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Lonesome Valley, 5 Dec 2003 @ 8:50am

            Re: Right on

            Thanks for your work Mike. Bite Me Fool is a people-hating, self-loathing, pimple-popping, fecal-speaking wannabe human who wandered over from some knuckle-dragging, parrot-talking chat room. May he make like a budget surplus and disappear.


            link to this | view in chronology ]

            • identicon
              Bite Me Fool, 5 Dec 2003 @ 12:54pm

              Re: Right on

              My comments have nothing to do with Mike. Your mother is a people-hating, self-loathing, pimple-popping, fecal-speaking wannabe human who's ass-licking spawn wandered over from some knuckle-dragging, parrot-talking chat room. You, yourself, are a convincing argument for abortion.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

              • identicon
                Frank, 5 Dec 2003 @ 4:05pm

                Re: Right on

                Anyone care to sing a little Streisand with me now:
                People, people who need people
                Are the luckiest people in the world.
                We're children, needing other children.
                And yet letting our grown-up pride hide all the need inside,
                Acting more like children than children.
                (refrain by P. Diddy)
                Your mother is a people-hating, self-loathing, pimple-popping, fecal-speaking wannabe human who's ass-licking spawn wandered over from some knuckle-dragging, parrot-talking chat room.
                People who need people are the luckiest people in the world.

                link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Thinking Clearly, 5 Dec 2003 @ 10:35am

          Re: Right on

          Would this be a good time to bring up the fact that the first label to be brought up in an attempt to stifle adverse opinion was "right-wing moron"?
          Pot.Kettle.Black

          link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.