Local photographer Mark Wilkins with Cher. (Photo: Mark Wilkins)

When Shia LaBeouf doused local photographer Mark Wilkins with cold coffee last week, we all had a good laugh. A Hollywood star had lost his temper — here! in D.C.! — and the paparazzo got what was, perhaps, coming to him. Then we moved on to the next SEO-friendly news item. But an email this week from local entertainment lawyer Jaia Thomas alerted me to legal questions surrounding the incident. She wrote:

Although filming has wrapped in D.C. for Transformers 3, this doesn’t mean this is the last D.C. will see of Shia LaBeouf. Although Wilkins has decided not to pursue formal legal action, LeBeouf hasn’t declared the same. More and more celebrities are beginning to bring suits against photographers on grounds of assault, battery and invasion of privacy.

Wait, so LaBeouf might sue Wilkins? Doubtful. But could he sue? Yes, but he probably wouldn't win. Basically, Thomas is drumming up business here, and I'm playing right into her hands. But her email did prompt me to poke around the D.C. Municipal Regulations, where I found an interesting law.

Rule 24-522 reads:

No individual not licensed under §521 shall take a photograph of any person or persons, for either direct or indirect profit or gain, upon any of the streets, sidewalks, or other public spaces of the District of Columbia persons, without first having obtained a license to do so from the Mayor as provided in this section.

That was news to me. I take photos for this blog — which creates revenue, however miniscule, for parent company Allbritton Communications — but I don't have such a license. The law was news to Wilkins, too, who said, "That's crazy." While he doesn't have a license from the mayor, he does possess media credentials from the Metropolitan Police Department. (I've emailed the mayor's office to see if these licenses even exist.)

There are other laws that might be relevant, too. "There are also criminal laws in regards to stalking or harassing," says Thomas. "I don't think in this instance he was stalking or harassing, but in L.A. that's a huge issue." California, in fact, has taken steps to empower celebrities besieged by paparazzi. Last year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law a bill making it a crime to photograph celebrities involved in a "personal or familial" activity, even in a public place.

"A lot of celebrities are using it now in court," says Thomas. "People are taking the phrase and turning it into however they want to define it." If California's anti-paparazzi law existed in D.C., it could have given LaBeouf grounds to sue Wilkins. Drinking coffee and reading a book, even at a sidewalk cafe, "technically ... could be considered personal," she says.

Thomas doesn't expect there to be a groundswell of support in D.C. for such a law because "there really aren't that many paparazzi in D.C. and there aren't that many celebrities." While there exist only a few paparazzi, Wilkins' Twitter account suggests a steady stream of celebrities passes through town. In fact, earlier today he was at Union Station, acting on a tip that Sarah Jessica Parker, here for a Committee on the Arts and the Humanities awards ceremony, was leaving town.

"Her personal assistant came out," he says, "and got the police and said, 'Hey, can you make these guys stop?,' and they said, 'No, this is a public space.'"

While the law's on Wilkins' side, he doesn't push his luck.

"You don't go into stores while they shop," he says. "You don't go into hotel lobbies. There is some sense of privacy." Then he adds, "You can shoot through the window, though."