Motion picture and television producers have often had to deal with claims of misappropriation when they did documentaries and especially fictionalized works based on the lives of real people. As noted earlier, the law permits unauthorized movies depicting the lives of the famous, just as it allows writers to produce unauthorized biographies of celebrities. But what about a movie that uses the name and other aspects of a non-celebrity's persona? 

    A California court addressed that question in the 1997 case of Polydoros v. 20th Century Fox Film. In that case, an appellate court ruled that the film, "The Sandlot," did not misappropriate the name and likeness of an old schoolmate of the film's writer and director. Plaintiff Michael Polydoros alleged that a movie character named Michael Polledorous was virtually identical to him, right down to the thick eyeglasses and his style of dress. As proof, he offered a 1960s photo of himself that was very similar to the movie character in appearance. The court held that Polydoros' right of publicity was not violated: a fictitious movie can include a character resembling a real person without liability for misappropriation. Polydoros appealed to the state Supreme Court, and in 1998 the high court initially agreed to hear the case. However, the court later reconsidered and dropped the appeal. When the Supreme Court does this, the lower appellate court's decision is not only reinstated as a legal precedent but made binding statewide as well.