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Roman Polanski is suing
four French periodicals for snapping photos of him in his Swiss chalet, where he is being held under house arrest until possible extradition to the U.S. (Review the case's twists here and some highlights from the insults fired at Polanski here.) The disgraced
filmmaker hopes the lawsuit will put an "urgent stop" to the attention
he's been getting from the French press. His lawyers are asking for roughly $217,215 in compensation for photos showing Polanksi through curtains and his children (both minors) who are
given heightened protection under French law. Is Polanski in for a pay day? Here are the legal arguments:- Polanski's Been Abused By the Press Enough, argues his lawyer, Marion Gregoire, as reported by the AP:
The December 2009 photo and many others invaded his privacy as well as his family's... Polanski's lawyer said he has a deeply rooted fear of the media, which she traced back to the stabbing death of his pregnant second wife, Sharon Tate.Polanski has said he was horrified by rumors that swirled in the press before the killers were tracked down -- rumors suggesting the victims had bizarre lifestyles and somehow brought the violence upon themselves.
Since then, Gregoire said, "Polanski has feared the media like the plague" and always sought to maintain his privacy.
Gregoire argued that Le Journal du Dimanche weekly newspaper should pay damages of euro10,000 for the photo of Polanski at his window.
- Polanski's Claim Is Bogus, says Christoph Bigot, lawyer for sued weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche: "Can you seriously claim in this context that if you stand at the window you won't get your picture taken? The press can and should cover this type of case." Putting a punctuation mark on Bigot's argument, Perez Hilton adds, "We don't really see how it's illegal to publish photos of his wife considering the nature of the story and if the faces of his children are blurred it seems that the photogs were respecting the French laws. As for the photos of him in the Swiss chalet, he wouldn't have had this problem if he had stayed jailed like he should have!"