THE “RIGHT TO BE SEEN”: SOMETHING TO PONDER
On August 7, 2006, the California Supreme Court held that owners of roadside properties do not possess a “right to be seen” that requires the payment of compensation when landscaping blocks the view. In Regency Outdoor Advertising, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles, Inc. (2006) 39 Cal. 4th 507, Regency sued the City seeking damages because it had planted trees blocking the visibility of some of Regency’s billboards along Century Boulevard, a primary access route to the airport. The Court concluded that where the city plants trees to beautify an area that may only incidentally affect the visibility of billboards and does not plant them for the sole purpose of interfering with the customary maintenance or use of the billboards, then the City is not liable for monetary damages. (Id. at 23.)
In today’s world, many of us want the right not to be seen, or privacy. This desire arises out of our personal needs and wants, not out of our public needs and wants. The Court’s decision, indirectly, forces us to ponder upon the distinction between our private and public lives. When do we want to be seen, and when do we want not to be seen? While in our private lives, we want not to be in the public eye; in our public lives, we want just the opposite: the right to be seen, to market, advertise and otherwise to make ourselves known to the general public. It is good for business, and, indirectly, good for each of us, as individuals. Business is built on personal relationships. But, is this line of thought now becoming circular? Is the line between our public and private lives becoming blurred?
Take a moment. . . think about in what situations do you want the “right to be seen” and those in which you want the “right not to be seen.” Are they separable? Or just a blur? Has life become such that our public and private lives are now one and the same?
Is it by coincidence or simply an inherent truth that in most instances, a very public affair – e.g. a lawsuit – ends quite privately – e.g. by a confidential mediation settlement. Is this how life is: things that start out in the public’s eye often end up privately and things that start privately often end up in the public’s eye?
Just another one of life’s lessons to ponder….
