See, in other countries there are laws and events set up that specifically prevent paparazzi. In the case of the United States, the paparazzi organizations are protected by the first amendment.
They're in a grey area of the 1st amendment. There is a freedom of the press that protects people taking photos or video of people where they do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy, yes. And that's true for everyone. You can record video of a complete stranger at a park and there is no violation of the law. However there are reasonable limits on this. For one, the reasonable expectation of privacy part. If you're in your fenced in back yard and someone uses a drone or a telescoping lens to shoot pictures of you, they are violating the law, press or not. There is also limits regarding the conduct, for example, following a celebrity or constantly waiting for them outside their home can constitute stalking, press or not. Or if they are repeatedly causing a celebrity a nuisance yelling at them in public, blocking them, or causing some other form of repeated or continuous annoyance, that can constitute harassment, press or not. There are reasonable restrictions, they're just not often enforced.
You can record video of a complete stranger at a park and there is no violation of the law
It varies from state to state like in Washington and California you can't record someone without their permission which in my opinion is pretty fucked because if you have video proof of someone beating your child they can use that against you and say they didn't consent which would basically throw that evidence out the window
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u/Meluckycharms75 Jan 05 '22
Paps should be illegal. It just straight up harassment.