I'll see you in court...

Cameron Diaz is suing again. And she's in good celebrity company. Andrew Buncombe on the stars who don't get mad, they get lawyers

The case The star of Charlie's Angels, There's Something About Mary and other such cinema classics is suing a photographer she accuses of trying to "steal" topless pictures of her that she posed for before she was famous. The snapper John Rutter is charged with attempted theft, forgery and perjury stemming from his 2003 bid to sell the racy snaps and a video that he shot in 1992. The legal wrangling began two years ago when Rutter asked Diaz if she wanted to "buy back" the S&M-themed pictures for $3.5m.

IF IT PLEASES M'LUD Diaz, 32, claims she never signed a "model release" form to allow Rutter to sell or publish the pictures. Rutter's lawyer, Mark Werksman, says the charges are nonsense. "Cameron Diaz used her wealth, power and fame to crush John Rutter and bury those photos," he says. Rutter faces five years in prison if convicted. This year, she has already filed a suit against National Enquirer magazine and has threatened to sue The Sun newspaper over claims that she cheated on her pipsqueak boyfriend Justin Timberlake by having an affair with television producer Shane Nickerson. She is seeking more than $10m in damages.

VERDICT No one would wish to see Diaz humiliated for a youthful indiscretion, but she was a grown woman of 21 when the photographs were taken - what did she think they were for? Furthermore, why does she think their publication would do anything but help her career? Just look what happened to Paris Hilton after that video.

Tom Cruise

THE CASE The actor who played a hot-shot fighter pilot in Top Gun, a secret agent in Mission Impossible, a hardened warrior in The Last Samurai, and who fights aliens in his current movie, War of the Worlds, threatened to sue a prankster who squirted him with water last month. He apparently settled for an apology.

IF IT PLEASES M'LUD Cruise has had a long relationship with the libel courts. In 1998 he and his then wife accepted a six-figure settlement from the Express on Sunday magazine which claimed his marriage to Nicole Kidman was a sham designed to cover up their mutual homosexuality. In 2003, Cruise accepted a $10m settlement from gay-porn actor Chad Slater (aka Kyle Bradford), who claimed they had had an affair.

THE VERDICT Cruise is desperate to retain his 'biggest star in Hollywood' status, though things have recently not gone his way. He has struggled to persuade the press that his engagement to actress Katie Holmes is real, and his over-the-top promotion of Scientology has raised eyebrows.

Roman Polanski

THE CASE The 71-year-old actor and one-time husband of Hollywood actress Sharon Tate - who was murdered by Charles Manson - is to sue Vanity Fair over claims that he made sexual advances towards a woman in New York at the time of his wife's funeral 36 years ago and said he could make her 'the next Sharon Tate'.

IF IT PLEASES M'LUD Polanski, who lives in Paris having fled the US in 1977 after admitting having sex with a 13-year-old girl, will not attend next week's case at the High Court in London out of fear he might be extradited to the US. He had to win a historic ruling in the House of Lords to be able to give evidence by video-link.

THE VERDICT Polanski is said to be distraught about Vanity Fair's claim - made in an article three years ago - but do the rest of us really care so long after his wife's death?

Catherine Zeta-Jones

THE CASE The Welsh beauty, married to actor Michael Douglas, most recently won a lawsuit for damages against Hello! magazine for publishing unau-thorised pictures of her wedding. It was exclamation marks all round at the Appeal Court in London in May when a judge ruled that OK! magazine - with which the Douglases had made an exclusive arrangement - did not have any rights that could be enforced in British law. The wrangle ended in victory for the couple at the High Court.

IF IT PLEASES M'LUD Zeta-Jones and her hubby have a thing for lawsuits. Last year the couple took action against a woman accused of sending offensive letters to them and threatening to kill Zeta-Jones. Previously the actress had threatened to sue anyone who repeated allegations that she was following the Atkins diet. She also sued a strip club in Nevada for using pictures of her on its raunchy website.

THE VERDICT Zeta-Jones does not take herself too seriously. She has not let celebrity go to her head. She is not on the Atkins diet.

Naomi Campbell

THE CASE In what proved to be a tortuous legal wrangle, the highly strung supermodel sued the Daily Mirror for breach of privacy after it reported that she was attending meetings of Narcotics Anonymous to try to kick a drugs habit. The core issue before the court was whether the publication at issue 'was legitimate in that the public interest in favour of publication outweighed any public interest in the protection' of Naomi Campbell's rights of confidentiality.

IF IT PLEASES M'LUD The House of Lords last year reversed a 2002 decision by the Court of Appeal which reversed the decision of yet another court which had originally found in model's favour.

Follow that? Campbell had previously been on the other side of a lawsuit. In 2000 she pleaded guilty to assault charges and agreed to pay an undisclosed settlement after she was accused of attacking her then personal secretary with a telephone.

THE VERDICT Despite the formal outcome of the privacy case, Campbell did not come out of the matter very well.

Elton John

Even the court which initially found in her favour said she was guilty of lying both under oath and to the media, and awarded her damages of just £5,000.

THE CASE The 58-year-old successor to Liberace's coveted seat at the piano stool is suing the Daily Mail for its 'ludicrous' allegation, published last month, of arrogant behaviour towards his guests at his charity ball in Windsor. Guests apparently included David and Victoria Beckham and Elle 'The Body' Macpherson. The singer's spokesman claimed the allegation was 'particularly vicious', and that prior to publication the Mail was told it was 'categorically untrue'.

IF IT PLEASES M'LUD The man born as Reginald Dwight famously sued The Sun in 1987 over a front-page story that claimed he had indulged in drug-fuelled gay-sex orgies. As a result of the lawsuit, The Sun admitted the story was false, printed an apology and paid £1m in damages. Sir Elton went on to record the song 'Can You Feel The Love Tonight'.

THE VERDICT The Sunday Times, which also printed allegations surrounding the ball that was raising funds for the Elton John Aids Foundation, has already retracted the claim.

Who knows what will happen next? Will Posh and Becks be called as witnesses by the Daily Mail? Will the lawsuit get in the way of Sir Elton's commitments in Las Vegas where he recently signed an -agreement to extend his The Red Piano show until 2008?