False Advertising Of Entertainment Is Different

False advertising claims based on the advertising and promotion of films, television, and even music are being made at an alarming rate.  Subjects of films seeking to suppress portrayals that they do not like have added to their right of publicity claims an assertion that the promotion of the films falsely claim that it is a true story. Given the expansive definition of "advertising" under California false advertising law laid down by the California Supreme Court in Nike v. Kasky, advertising and promotion of entertainment appeared vulnerable to claims under California false advertising law.

In rejecting such claims by Olivia de Havilland over her portrayal in Lifetime's "Feud," the California Court ruled that the First Amendment protected expressive works from such claims, but did not analyze the elements of the state law claim.  Now the California Court of Appeals has provided an application of California false advertising law to entertainment, and it found that