Marich

BACKGROUND

Appellants Robert and Marietta Marich brought this action in 1997, against QRZ Media, Inc., MGM/UA Telecommunications, Inc., and Metro Goldwyn Mayer, Inc., respectively, the producers and distributors of a television show entitled, LAPD: Life on the Beat. The show was videotaped by a QRZ-employed crew consisting of a camera operator and a soundman who rode on patrol with officers of the Los Angeles Police Department. On October 20, 1996, the crew videotaped two officers as they responded to a call to the apartment of appellants’ son, Michael Marich, where he was found dead.

While the television crew videotaped, one of the policemen, Officer Jackson, telephoned appellants at their home in Texas. The result of the videotaping was a four-minute segment in an episode of the show entitled, “The Final Act.” Officer Jackson’s telephone call to appellants appears in the episode. He is seen and heard speaking first to appellant Marietta Marich, then to appellant Robert Marich, informing them, without identifying appellants’ or their son by name, that the police discovered their son dead in his apartment of an apparent drug overdose. While the words spoken are…