Celebrities right of privacy and paparazzi's right to know

Celebrities have a popular image in the eyes of the public; people tend to personalize them as

their friends and are fascinated to know what is going on in their lives. People are curious to

know every personal detail of the celebrity starting from the clothes they wear, personal affairs,

hand bags they carry, places they visit frequently. Celebrities want to manage the personal

information because the revelation of information might cause discomfiture and disgrace.

Therefore, they want their privacy in every aspect of life. There is a negative relation between

paparazzi and celebrity image. The fault representation of the celebrities will portray a negative

image of the paparazzi, though this is not the main function of paparazzi.

By using celebrity’s endorsement strategies and using them in different advertisements gains

public attention. People admire and fascinate the celebrities in a way that they consider them as

their friends (Ohanian 1991). But the appearance of celebrity in public is different. Some

celebrities appear in order to fulfill their profession; some other would appear to attend celebrity

events like academy awards. Some celebrities would like to be seen in the news and magazines.

Through mass media channel any private information of the celebrities can be seen.

Advertisement through celebrities is a very good renowned method to increase the awareness of

their products and services among the general public. (Tom et al. 1992).

When the subject of paparazzi arises, it refers to the association with the celebrities and their

privacy. When paparazzi’s invade the privacy of the celebrities at different places, it brings

disgrace to the celebrities. This will portray a bad image of the celebrity and that of paparazzi

too. It is frequently argued by the celebrities to have the opportunity to live like standard citizens.

They demand a normal life with full rights of privacy. The main focus of the paparazzi is to

target those celebrities who fascinate the majority of public. There is no explicit law made by the

constitution regarding the right of privacy, but the courts have recognized the rights of celebrity

privacy. The rights of privacy have developed four types of invasions. The negative relation

between the paparazzi and celebrities can be seen in recent years. It is also observed that this

negativity came into being after the death of Lady Diana (Howe 2005). Personality traits also

impact highly on the feasibility of advertisement. If the celebrity or any other person is pure or

honest, then people may believe in his statements whatever the person is saying. Nowadays, the

general public is more attracted towards televisions and images. People get an overview from

these sources about the celebrities and then they think about the sale and purchase. People are

getting more curious to know how these celebrities dress and perform, who they connect with,

through the story they inform to the public.

In order to guard one’s illustration, the family life of the celebrities must be kept in private from

the public, Backstage is known as private, because feature that are often careful private, such as

relations or associations. ,

Paparazzi refers to the freelance photographers who capture pictures of celebrities for publication

in the magazines or new papers 1. The main focus of the paparazzi is to target those celebrities

who fascinate the majority of public. There is no explicit law made by the constitution regarding

the right of privacy, but the courts have recognized the rights of celebrity privacy. The rights of

privacy have developed four types of invasions. The first one is the interruption in to ones

private life. Then there is an invasion of privacy facts by the community. Portaging a false

statement about the life of a celebrity and exploiting the person’s name commercially 2. When

blameless celebrity’s privacy is attacked by the paparazzi on the streets of New York or in his

own house, it is very awkward for the celebrities. It is often argued by the celebrities to have the

opportunity to live like normal citizens and to be left unaccompanied and keep their privacy. A

significant development towards the protection of celebrity rights in under intellectual possession

laws. Various conventions have recognized the rights of celebrities. The rights of celebrity can

be protected by copyright trademarks too (Tabrez et al. 2011). Paparazzi’s are a burden that

nearly every celebrity must stand and must tolerate too. There are some inconveniences which

celebrities may suffer due to exploitation of the people’s behavior towards them. (Frosh 2001).

1 Random house Webster college dictionary 978 (1991)

2 See William , Prosser, Law of torts and 117, at 804-12 (4th edition. 1971)

According to this behavior towards them, it prevents them to live freely and having check and

balance that how they respond and react. (Dalton 2000). It is also observed that this is not the

way majority of the paparazzi’s portray themselves. It is important to separate the purpose of the

paparazzi and the functions they play. It is also important to recognize the descriptions of the

paparazzi and their inspirations at large. In the aspects of American civilization, the paparazzi

can be motivated by seeing the cash and respond according to the same. These techniques

generally responds as journalistic perspectives. With the help of medium demonstrations, People

cooperate for the most part with the superstar. They do not cooperate through authentic

individuals. The audience pictures the image of the personality as genuine and from a known

person. Due to the increase in the awareness of television and photography/images, people are

getting knowledge. They know about the celebrity characters. It actually increases the insights by

focusing the dresses, characteristics, personality traits and other performances, to whom these

people are connected. These celebrities performed according to their task assigned by the

company and they depict in the form of presentations, promotional appearances and advertising

scripts. It is often portrayed by the audience that the representation is authentic and is believed to

be from a known person. It is through the media, that people augment insights into the celebrity’s

nature. Keeping in mind their character, they portray the celebrities as idols and fascinate them.

They are curious to know what they wear or which places they go. The function of paparazzi

when analyzed through the image control lens offers us various insights into the subject matter.

Sometimes, celebrities depicts the scripts falsely, because they know, people will believe on

them, whatever they are saying. They need training in all of the matters. Assuming that paparazzi

will offer accuracy about the celebrities through their descriptions and through there a

photographic image is not logical. But they will present a contradictory picture, one not

essentially controlled by the famous person.

Selection of the celebrities has been just a purpose of convincing the general public. So the

selection of these people is just on the basis of cultural foundations of civilization. It increases

the level of the amusement business. So according to this perspective, advertisement business

will boost up.

Media plays a vital role in depicting the image of the celebrities and through the media. There

are some examples available in the electronic media. These examples of media are Television,

Photographs and Radio which increase the importance of celebrities in the advertisement. It

depicts that how the celebrities dress and perform. According to the description, story can be

related. It can be performed or execute for the political and business organization.

The conventional viewpoint of paparazzi is to main consideration of the limited power of the

stars. They have limited powers on their lives and towards the protection of their privacy. When

hunted by paparazzi, they are powerless.. A positive representation of the celebrities can have a

positive association between the celebrity and the paparazzi’s. The celebrities will feel more

comfortable and relaxed when they know that their image is not negatively portrayed or their

right of privacy is not invaded. The paparazzi’s must recognize that celebrities’ personal life

must not be badly affected by media. This will only allow miscommunication between the two

entities. Image is everything; therefore paparazzi must respect the rights of privacy of celebrities

so that a positive association between the two entities can be formed.

References

Ahmad and Swain. ”Celebrity Rights: Protection under IP Laws”. Journal of Intellectual

Property Rights. 16 (2011), 7-16

Bishop. “ From behind the walls: Boundary work by news organizations in their coverage of

Princess Diana’s death”. Journal of Communication Inquiry 23(1) (1999): 90–112.

Callinan, I. D. F. “Privacy, Confidence, Celebrity And Spectacle.” Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal 7.1(2007): 1-21. Academic Search Complete. Web. 21 June 2013.

Dalton. “Historical look at the paparazzi phenomenon of the twentieth century. Unpublished

master’s thesis, San Jose State University. (2002)

Frosh. “The public eye and the citizen-voyeur: Photography as a performance of powe”. Social

Semiotics 11(1) (2001) 43–59.

Hindman. “The princess and the paparazzi: Blame, responsibility, and the media’s role in the

death of Diana”. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly 80 (3) (2003), 666–688.

Howe, P. 2005. Paparazzi. New York: Artisan.

Kambitsis, Harahousou, Theodorakis, and Chatzibeis. “Sports Advertising in Print Media: The

Case of 2000 Olympic Games, Corporate Communications”. An International Journal, 7 (3),

2011, 155-161.

Nordhaut, Jamie E. “Celebrities’ Rights to Privacy: How Far Should The Paparazzi Be Allowed To Go?.”The Review Of Litigation 18.(1999): 285. LexisNexis Academic: Law Reviews. Web. 21 June 2013.

Ohanian, Roobina.“The Impact of Celebrity Spokespersons’ Perceived Image on

Consumers’ Intention to Purchase.” Journal of Advertising Research. 31 (1) (1991), 46-53.

Scharrer, Weidman, and Bissell. “Pointing the finger of blame: News media coverage of

popularculture culpability”. Journalism and Mass Communication Monographs. 5(2) (2003).

Tom, Gail, Clark, Elmer, Grech, Masetti, and Sandhar, . “The Use of Created versus Celebrity

Spokespersons in Advertisements”. Journal of Consumer Marketing. 9 (4) 1992, 45-51.

Tagg. The burden of representation: Essays on photographies and histories. Amherst, MA:

University of Massachusetts Press. 1998

Willis, Keith D. “Paparazzi, Tabloids, And The New Hollywood Press: Can Celebrities Claim A Defensible Publicity Right In Order To Prevent The Media From Following Their Every Move?.”Texas Review Entertainment & Sports Law 9.1 (2007): 175-202. Academic Search Complete. Web. 21 June 2013.