US News

Tyler is shutter bugged

Attention, paparazzi: Don’t walk this way.

Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler is pushing for a new law in Hawaii that would protect famous faces from invasive lensmen — and it already has support from two-thirds of the state Senate.

The Steven Tyler Act would give celebrities the power to sue shutterbugs over unwanted bikini shots.

Sen. Kalani English, who authored the bill at Tyler’s request, says the new law will boost Hawaii’s film and tourism industry and lure celebrities who yearn to splash around and sunbathe in private.

“These are my constituents, as well,” English, a Maui Democrat, told the Associated Press. “Public figures have a right to reasonable privacy. There’s a balance that we need to create.”

The law would be limited to paparazzi who invade private areas, using telephoto lenses to snap stars in their homes or hotel rooms without permission, English said.

Public places and Hawaii’s golden beaches are still fair game.

Tyler, 64, purchased a $4.8-million home in Maui last year. The former “American Idol” judge has been photographed brazenly strutting along the surf and playing bongos in a skimpy Speedo ever since.

Under the new law, tabloids could be slammed with civil suits if they capture — or intend to capture — images, video and sound “in a manner that is offensive to a reasonable person.”Senate lawmakers haven’t set a date to discuss the bill, which was introduced on Jan. 18 and referred to committee days later. It’s unclear whether it will pass muster in the House.

The bill’s preamble paints a sob story on how “many celebrities are deterred from buying property or vacationing” on the island because of the paparazzi who follow them from the mainland.

“Sounds like some ‘celebrity’ got to some of the legislators,” attorney Jeff Portnoy told the Hawaii Reporter. “It needs to be defeated in its present form or expect lots of litigation.”

Still, experts say the law needs specific guidelines before telling cameramen to cap their lenses.

“The devil is in the details,” said George Freeman, a litigator with New York firm Jenner & Block and longtime First Amendment lawyer.

“Celebrities have to deal with the fact that the public is interested in them,” he said. “That’s how they make their livelihood [and] they can’t have the same degree of privacy as the rest of us.”