MICHAEL POLYDOROS, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION et al., Defendants and Respondents., 67 Cal. App. 4th 318

Summary

Appellant non-celebrity looked like and grew up in a setting similar to that of a character in a film produced by respondent film company. Appellant sought relief for commercial appropriation of identity, invasion of privacy, and negligence under Cal. Civ. Code § 3344, and for defamation, based on those similarities. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of respondent. On review, the court affirmed the judgment and denied the commercial appropriation and the common law invasion of privacy claims because there was a marked difference in appellant and the movie character and because the similarities in locale and boyhood activities did not make the film about appellant. The court held that film was a constitutionally protection medium and that the use of photographs of an actor resembling an actual person to promote a fictional work was protected. The court denied the claim for negligence under Cal. Civ. Code § 3344 because respondent's artistic effort was constitutionally ...