Amanda Knox, an American suspect in the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, on Tuesday filed to halt sales of a new book she claims could stop her from having a fair trial.
She has also asked for 500,000 euros in compensation for damage allegedly already caused by the book and a number of articles published in daily Corriere della Sera.
Knox's lawyers said the Seattle-born 21-year-old has suffered from a ''smear campaign'' that will prejudice the jury against her when her trial begins on Friday.
Carlo dalla Vedova and Luciano Ghirga said Knox had come under ''incredible and misleading'' media scrutiny that they said was ''in violation of the general principles that safeguard personal information and dignity''.
''The media has done everthing in its power to create an absolutely negative portrayal (of Knox)'', they said.
The lawyers have filed complaints with the privacy watchdog and a Milan civil tribunal asking for compensation as well as the confiscation of the book about Knox written by a journalist from daily Corriere della Sera.
They singled out the book 'Amanda and The Others: Lives Lost around the Perugia Murder', as an obstacle to fair trial since it could be read by members of the jury.
The lawyers criticised the book and three articles published in Corriere for supplying information about Knox's sex life that was ''not in any way useful or considered relevant in the investigation''.
''Details relating to (Knox's) sex life are reported in a prurient manner, aimed solely at arousing the morbid imagination of readers,'' they said.
''This crosses the limits of legitimate exercise of the rights of the press''.
Compared to countries such as the United Kingdom, Italian media law is far less restrictive about what may be published in the run-up to a court case.
Knox's 'angel-faced' looks have helped her grab headlines over the 14 months while she has been awaiting trial in a Perugia prison.
At the end of December she was voted the most popular female in a personality of the year poll run by a television news show.
Earlier in the month some observers criticised the jail for allowing Knox to take part in a regionally funded movie shot in the prison as part of a rehabilitation programme.
Knox starred with 11 fellow prisoners in the drama, which was to have been shown at a Perugia film festival but was pulled on a last-minute request from her lawyers.
The film festival director, one of the few to have seen the movie, described Knox as a ''magnetic actress''.
Knox and her 24-year-old Italian boyfriend Sollecito, 24, are due to begin trial on Friday for their part in Kercher's murder. Both deny charges.
Kercher was found semi-naked and with her throat slashed on November 2 2007 in the house she shared with Knox and two other Italian women.
In October a third defendant, 21-year-old Ivory Coast national Rudy Guede, was found guilty and sentenced to 30 years for sexually assaulting and murdering the 21-year-old British exchange student.
Guede had opted for a separate fast-track trial without a jury to avoid being tried alongside Knox and Sollecito, who his lawyers feared would try to pin the blame on Guede.
The prosecution claims Kercher was killed when all three suspects tried to force her to participate in ''a perverse group sex game''.
