Polydoros

A noncelebrity sued the makers and distributors of a film called The Sandlot (Twentieth Century Fox 1993), claiming that the filmmakers invaded his privacy by appropriating his name and likeness. We conclude that the filmmakers’ release of a patently fictional movie did not invade the plaintiff’s privacy and is, in any event, protected by constitutional guarantees of free expression. Moreover, the film is not defamatory. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s judgment in favor of the defendant filmmakers.

Facts

In 1993, respondents released The Sandlot, a comedic coming-of-age story set in the San Fernando Valley in the 1960’s. The film’s protagonists are a motley group of boys on a sandlot baseball team who, in the course of one summer, overcome various adversaries, including a disdainful, well-funded opposing team and a gigantic, ferocious dog that has taken possession of the team’s baseballs and secreted them in a neighboring yard. One of the boys on the sandlot team is a character named Michael Palledorous, nicknamed “Squints.” The Palledorous character is one of the team’s leaders, and spearheads the team’s valiant efforts to reclaim a baseball autographed by…