Earlier this week, California Governor Jerry Brown signed an anti-paparazzi bill into law.

It was seen as a huge victory for supporters of the bill, many of whom are well-known Hollywood actors. Halle Berry, Jennifer Garner, and Adele were among the bill’s proponents.

California Senate Bill 606 was introduced by state Senator Kevin de León (Democrat, Los Angeles) in February, 2013.

“Kids shouldn’t be tabloid fodder nor the target of ongoing harassment,” Senator de León said. “SB 606 will give children, no matter who their parents are, protection from harassers who go to extremes to turn a buck.”

In the ensuing months, Hollywood rallied around the bill. In June, Berry headed to Sacramento to testify in favor of the bill.

In August, she was joined by fellow Hollywood mom Jennifer Garner who gave a heartfelt and at times emotional testimony:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR_iurfQfso

Besides thanking Garner for her support, Berry expressed her gratitude to the “enormously talented musician” Adele.

Berry released a statement through her publicist after the passage of SB 606: “On behalf of my children, it is my hope that this is the beginning of the end for those overly aggressive paparazzi whose outrageous conduct has caused so much trauma and emotional distress.”

RELEASE: SB 606 Signed by @JerryBrownGov Kids shouldn’t be tabloid fodder nor the target of ongoing harassment http://t.co/kmtjOHkTPa

— Kevin de Leon (@kdleon) September 24, 2013

SB 606 will modify the definition of harassment to include photographing or videoing a child without the permission of a parent or legal guardian.

Not everyone in Hollywood supports SB 606. At one point, the Motion Picture Association of America opposed the bill, and both the California Broadcasters Association and the California Newspaper Publishers Association opposed the legislation on the basis that it violates First Amendment rights of freedom of the press.

Image via YouTube