Television Docudramas and the Right of Publicity: Too Bad Liz, That's Show Biz Note 8 (Comm/Ent), Hastings Journal of Communications and Entertainment Law 1985-1986

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8 Comm/Ent L.J. 257 (1985-1986)
Television Docudramas and the Right of Publicity: Too Bad Liz, That's Show Biz

handle is hein.journals/hascom8 and id is 271 raw text is: Television Docudramas and the Right
of Publicity: Too Bad Liz,
That's Show Biz
by LISA A. LAWRENCE*
I
Introduction
In the past decade, television networks have aired an increas-
ing number of docudramas.1 A docudrama is the presentation
of real events and real people through the medium of film.2
Many of these made-for-TV movies have been based on the
lives of deceased celebrities3 and other famous persons,4 living5
and dead. As the popularity of the docudrama has increased,
many questions have arisen regarding the legal ramifications of
this genre of expression. These questions include what exactly
is a docudrama, whether it is a commercial product, whether it
is protected by the first amendment, and whether a docudrama
* Member, Third Year Class.
1. This note deals primarily with television docudramas, but the same analysis
applies equally to motion pictures.
2. See Manson, The Television Docudrama and the Right of Publicity, 7 CoM. &
L. 41 n.2 (1985).
3. A celebrity is generally considered to be someone who has achieved fame and
recognition in the areas of sports or entertainment. See Ropski, The Right of Public-
ity-The Trend Towards Protecting a Celebrity's Celebrity, 72 TRADEMARK REP. 251,
252-56 (1982). As used in this note, celebrity also refers to other famous individuals.
See infra note 4. For purposes of defamation law, a celebrity may be considered a
public figure. See infra note 84 and accompanying text.
4. A famous person is any person who has achieved some degree of fame, recog-
nition or notoriety. This may include private citizens who have been thrown into the
limelight for various reasons. For instance, as a child, Gloria Vanderbilt was famous
for being a victim of an unseemly custody battle. A person could also be famous for
his involvement in a crime.
5. Living persons who have been the subject of docudramas include Prince
Charles and Princess Diana, and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Docudramas made on
famous criminal cases include The Burning Bed, Fatal Vision, A Murder in Texas, and
The Longest Night.
6. Examples of deceased persons who have been the subject of docudramas in-
clude John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons, Prin-
cess Grace, William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies, Marilyn Monroe, Clark
Gable and Carole Lombard, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, and Howard Hughes.
257