Polanski sues French publications over privacy

First verdict could come today as filmmaker fights paparazzi photos

PARIS: The news snapshot shows Roman Polanski standing at a window, a thin slice of his face visible amid an opening in the curtains. The French paper that printed the photo saw it as a newsworthy depiction of the director's life under house arrest in his Swiss Alpine chalet.

Lawyers for the Chinatown director say that the December 2009 photo and many others invaded his privacy as well as his family's, and he and his wife are suing four French publications, two newspapers and two, magazines for a total of about $217,215.