Tag: false light

Olivia de Havilland’s Cert. Petition Denied by U.S. Supreme Court

Today, the United States Supreme Court denied review of the California Court of Appeal decision in De Havilland v. FX Networks. This leaves in place the California appellate court's strong decision holding that the First Amendment bars the right of publicity and false light claims de Havilland brought aganst FX arising out of the use of...

De Havilland Seeks Review of Feud Decision

Olivia de Havilland's lawyers have filed a petition seeking review in the California Supreme Court of a California Court of Appeal's recent decision holding that the First Amendment bars her false light and right of publicity claims arising out of the use of a character based on her in FX's docudrama Feud. Her lawyers challenge...

First Amendment Protects Use of Olivia de Havilland in FEUD Docudrama

In a resounding victory for FX, the California Court of Appeal today reversed the trial court’s decision in de Havilland v. FX Networks on all counts.  The panel held that the anti-SLAPP motion to strike de Havilland's claims should have been granted both as to the right of publicity and false light claims. The three-judge...

New York Times Article on De Havilland Case

Paul Brownfield's article on Olivia de Havilland's lawsuit against FX Network was published in Sunday's New York Times Style Section. It has a wonderful interview with Ms. de Havilland that explains more about her views on the lawsuit. It also has some commentary from me related to the case.  My op-ed, in print, the same...

Briefs Rain Down on California Court of Appeal in De Havilland Case

At least five separate amicus briefs have been filed in the expedited appeal in Olivia de Havilland v. FX Networks. I filed an amicus in this case with a number of other law professors in support of FX Networks. We argue that the First Amendment protects the use of real people, particularly public figures, in...

Law Professors Call for Reversal in De Havilland and the Protection of Biographies and Biographical Films

Yesterday, I filed a brief co-authored with Rebecca Tushnet and Eugene Volokh asking the California Court of Appeal to reverse the trial court’s decision in De Havilland v. FX Networks as to the right of publicity claim. The case, first filed at the end of June last year, involves a lawsuit by Hollywood legend Olivia...

The Plot (and Feud) Thickens

On Friday, a California superior court agreed with two-time Oscar winner Olivia de Havilland that her lawsuit against FX Networks could proceed. FX had sought to put a swift end to her lawsuit arising out of her portrayal in the network’s critically acclaimed miniseries, Feud. The series chronicled the longstanding conflict between Joan Crawford and...

Olivia de Havilland Back in the Spotlight

One of Hollywood’s most successful plaintiffs and actresses is at it again. Olivia de Havilland, the two-time Oscar winner, who appeared in such Hollywood classics as Gone with the Wind and The Heiress, has sued FX Networks and Ryan Murphy in California Superior Court over her portrayal in its miniseries Feud. She claims that the...