Streisand versus Coastal Photo Effort

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Sun, 31 Aug 2003 08:20:19 -0700
> Subject: Streisand versus Coastal Photo Effort
> From: Paul Saffo <pls () well com>
> To: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
>
>
> Dave-
>
> This case has important free speech implications.  If Streisand wins,
> it is a vast blow to any watch-dog who dares pick up a camera.
> -p
> -------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Streisand goes coastal over Web photo effort
> Maria Alicia Gaura, Chronicle Staff Writer
> Sunday, August 31, 2003
> ©2003 San Francisco Chronicle |Feedback
>
> URL:
> http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/08/31/ MN305247.DTL
>
> When Ken Adelman retired several years ago -- for the second time, at
> age 37 -- he and his wife, Gabrielle, decided to spend some time in the
> air,  photographing the entire California coastline from their
> helicopter and  posting the images free on the World Wide Web.
>
> They assumed the barriers to such an ambitious project would be
> technical. But the Adelmans got some unexpected turbulence: Barbra
> Streisand.
> Ken and Gabrielle Adelman, who live in rural Santa Cruz County, came up
>  with the idea for their California Coastal Records Project in 1996
> when Ken  volunteered to fly while friends photographed San Simeon on
> the Central Coast.  (They were fighting a planned development by The
> Hearst Corp., which owns The  Chronicle.)
>
> The San Simeon photos were taken on 35mm film, as were a previous
> series of  coastal photos taken by the government that ended up stacked
> in hundreds of  slide carousels.
>
> But advances in digital photography, an Apple Powerbook and a
> jury-rigged  connection to his helicopter's global positioning unit
> allowed the Adelmans to  shoot the entire coastline and post the
> results on the Web in less than a  year's time.
>
> With Gabrielle at the rudder of a Robinson R44 helicopter and Ken
> leaning  from the door with a Nikon digital camera, the two documented
> every nook and  cranny of the coastline, with the shutter clicking away
> every three seconds  and the GPS documenting latitude and longitude for
> each shot.
>
> "We thought we could start at the Oregon border and just fly our way
> down  the coast," Gabrielle said, adding that fog and other troubles
> often meant  they had to reshoot areas.
>
> While the state's coast is officially about 840 miles, the Adelmans say
>  they have shot roughly 1,100 miles, including every cove and
> promontory.
>
> The more than 12,000 images they have posted on
> www.californiacoastline.org are not the first to document California's
> Pacific boundary. But the digital  technology, free access and
> user-friendly Web site design are unprecedented.
>
> In addition to scenes of spectacular loveliness, the project also
> documents  illegal seawalls, sewage outflows, erosion and masses of new
> development.
>
> Now that the kinks have been worked out of the technology, the Adelmans
>  plan to update the photos every five years or so, and have been
> approached to  do similar projects in Washington state, around
> Vancouver Island, in Hawaii  and Mexico and even in Cuba.
>
> They also plan to take thousands of coastal slides shot in the 1970s,
> scan  them into the computer, and display them on the Web site for
> comparison.
>
> But not everyone appreciated their efforts.
> Vandenberg Air Force Base -- which launches satellites -- has refused
> to  allow the Adelmans to take photographs.
>
> But the reaction from the military was nothing compared to the wrath of
>  Streisand.
>
> One of the 12,700 digital images posted on the Adelman's Web site
> depicts a  glorious stretch of beach in Malibu -- and a lavish
> bluff-top estate belonging  to Streisand.
>
> Arguing that the photograph violated her privacy, Streisand filed a $50
>  million lawsuit in May demanding that the photo including her house be
> removed  from the site, along with the caption reading "Streisand
> Estate, Malibu."
>
> According to her suit, and property owners concerned with the privacy
> of  homes along the coast, projects like the Adelmans' must be nipped
> in the bud.
>
> "A self-appointed vigilante of the skies," according to court
> documents,  "Adelman might next want to swoop down and . . . take
> pictures of homes in the  vicinity of public parks . . . lakes, rivers,
> hillsides, reservoirs and  highways, all under the pretext that he is
> documenting the environment. No one  would be spared.''
>
> Streisand attorney John Gatti insists the lawsuit is not an attempt to
> shut  down the Web site, but an attempt to protect the privacy of a
> celebrity who  has been harassed in the past by stalkers and obsessive
> fans.
>
> The Adelmans rejected the diva's demands, arguing that the photos
> constitute free speech, were taken from public airspace and are part of
> a  historic public document.
>
> "The biggest reason not to comply is that what we do for Barbra we
> would  have to do for everybody else," Ken Adelman said. "If we took
> down her photo  and caption, we'd eventually have to take down the
> whole thing. We don't feel  we can make exceptions for the people who
> are wealthy enough to sue us."
> A technology entrepreneur with a passion for the Internet, the
> 40-year-old  Adelman promptly posted every legal document in the case
> on his site, as well  as letters, phone messages and flaming e-mail
> rants.
>
> Adelman argues that his own wealth makes him the logical person to
> fight a  deep-pockets plaintiff like Streisand.
>
> While Streisand's wealth has been estimated at $100 million by People
> Magazine, Adelman sold his first high-tech company to Cisco Systems in
> 1996.  He retired but soon got back in the technology game.
>
> He sold his second company to Nokia in 2000. While he kept only a
> portion  of the $450 million from the two sales, he did retain enough
> to retire early,  he said, and absorb legal costs that have totaled
> $250,000 to date.
>
> While no people are visible in the contested photo, it does show the
> arrangement of furniture on the star's lanai, and the placement of
> windows and  balconies on her three houses, the lawsuit notes.
>
> "This case has nothing to do with restricting anyone's freedom of
> speech or  expression," Gatti said. "I think it's a step in protecting
> privacy in an age  when advancing technology begins creeping into
> private lives."
>
> As a result, the lawsuit over privacy has generated worldwide publicity
> --  a good thing for a fledgling Web site but a problematic consequence
> for a  publicity-averse celebrity.
>
> According to Adelman, the Malibu photograph in question was downloaded
> only  six times in the three months before the lawsuit was filed. But
> once the story  hit the media, visits to the site surged. An average of
> 108,000 visitors per  day viewed the photograph in June.
>
> The Adelmans have filed a motion to dismiss the case, and Streisand has
>  asked the Los Angeles Superior Court for an injunction ordering the
> removal of  identifying information from the site until the case is
> settled. Both sides  are anxiously awaiting a ruling, which will
> determine whether the case  proceeds to trial.
>
> The legal costs are five times what he spent to document the coast,
> Adelman  said, and a less wealthy person might have given up for lack
> of money.
>
> "I think fighting her is really a public service," Adelman said.
> "Someone  has to stop her.''
>
> E-mail Maria Alicia Gaura at mgaura () sfchronicle com .
>
> ©2003 San Francisco Chronicle |Feedback
>
>   Page A - 1

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