Ask the Answer B!tch

So Sienna Miller stands around topless on a boat and a hotel balcony, and she gets to sue the British tabs who published the photos? How does that work? Wasn't she visible for the world to see?
—Peter, St. Paul

She was.

In the States, if starlets stood on boats—clearly visible to the mortified public, wearing nothing but their egos—we'd probably get to sue them, for traumatizing us with their concave boobies and horrifically jutting collarbones.

But not so in Britain. This week, Sienna Miller filed a suit in her home country, claiming two tabloids invaded her privacy by publishing topless photos of her and boyfriend Balthazar Getty on vacation in Italy. See the incredible reason why Miller just might win—and what Naomi Campbell has to do with all of this—after the jump.

Turns out, England has lower standards for quite a few things—and not just the definition of a decent burger.

"England has much more liberal standards when it comes to proving invasion of privacy," confirms Gregory Aldisert, an entertainment attorney who has represented both the media and celebrities like Mike Tyson.

The standards have been sliding around big-time since 1998. That year, the European Convention on Human Rights issued a protocol protecting a person's "private and family life." (Confidential to the European Convention: Vague much?) The British took the ruling to heart and started applying it in court.

One major case: Naomi Campbell's. In 2001, paparazzi photographed the model emerging from a Narcotics Anonymous meeting; she sued, claiming a privacy breach. One long court battle later, the House of Lords favored Campbell, adding that the media could now be sued for "misuse of private information."

That was just the beginning. Last year, Miller won an unprecedented £37,000 from two tabloids who had run nude photos of her on a lake. And now we have this brand new litigation, which is bound to be all kinds of fun.

Let's just hope she puts on a bra before heading to court.

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