When you're shelling out a mountain of cash to rent a sprawling, well-secured chateau in a country with very strict privacy laws, it's not unreasonable to expect some protection from the prying eyes of the paparazzi.

Brangelina's $70 milllion compound in France

But when you're Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and shots of newborn twins Knox and Vivienne could net an enterprising shutterbug enough money to buy a small island nation (bidding for the exclusive rights to debut the double bundles of joy has reportedly sailed north of $16 million), all bets are off, which is why the actor is threatening legal action against anyone who tries to publish pictures taken recently of his ridiculously famous family at their $70 million compound in the South of France.

In a warning letter issued on Tuesday (via The Smoking Gun), Pitt's attorney claims photographers using "highly powerful" telephoto lenses "surreptitiously" took the snapshots, which he calls a "malicious violation" of his privacy. (His privacy was reportedly further violated on Thursday, when two camouflaged paps tussled with the family's security team.)

The missive doesn't mention which members of the Jolie-Pitt brood are featured in the photos, although earlier this week images surfaced on several websites -- and then quickly disappeared -- that appeared to show Maddox, 6, and Pax, 4, riding kid-sized motorbikes around their estate while Pitt putt-putted along nearby in a golf cart with -- ruh-roh -- 2-year-old Shiloh perched on his lap.

The current issue of In Touch also showcases shots of the clan engaged in a typical day in their rich and rarefied life, with Maddox, Pax, Shiloh and Zahara, 3, playing and hanging out on the lawn as their parents and paternal grandma look on.

Meanwhile, in other invasion of privacy news, Us Weekly has apparently resigned itself to being passed over for the wonder twins exclusive, because its current cover delves uncomfortably deep into Brad and Angelina's reproductive process.

"It was in vitro!" proclaims the mag, which says the already knee-deep-in-diapers duo "turned to fertility treatments to quickly conceive twins Knox and Vivienne."

Brad, with Shiloh and Zahara, visits Angie in the hospital on July 2.

"They both desperately wanted more babies soon," alleges a source, who claims Jolie supposedly opted for IVF so "she wouldn't have to deal with the stress of trying to get pregnant. She could just knock it out."

(Anyone else left with an ooky feeling over this level of scrutiny regarding a purported medical procedure? Yeah, us, too, so moving on ...)

It turns out Angelina's extended stay at Nice's Lenval Hospital benefited more than just the city's tourism department. It also gave a boost to some of the medical center's littlest patients.

A hospital rep tells Hello! magazine (via Celebitchy) that while waiting for Knox and Viv to make their auspicious debut, Brad "ordered hundreds of toys for the sick children here and has visited the wards to speak to the younger patients."

The mouthpiece adds that the fruitful and philanthropic A-listers, who are expected to donate the sure-to-be-record-setting haul from the twin pics to charity, "charmed everyone who works here."