Randy Rhoads's mother gave filmmakers his photos for a documentary that never came out, and an appeals court let them publish a book instead

Randy Rhoads was killed at 25 when a small plane carrying him clipped Ozzy Osbourne's tour bus and crashed. His mother, Delores Rhoads, and siblings Kathryn Rhoads D'Argenzio and Kelle Rhoads controlled his estate. On 1 April 2007 the family signed an agreement with filmmaker Peter Margolis for a documentary to be finished within three years, and gave him photos, interviews and personal material. In early 2012 Margolis reportedly said the film was done. It was never released. Late in 2012 the family learned of a coffee table book, Randy Rhoads, by Andrew Klein and Steven Rosen with Margolis, published by Velocity Publishing Group. The family sued in Los Angeles County Superior Court for fraud, breach of contract, invasion of privacy and misuse of publicity rights, alleging more than 50 uses of material given only for the film. The trial court refused to dismiss the case. On 26 January 2015 a three-judge California appeals panel reversed under the state's anti-SLAPP law, holding the defendants had a First Amendment right to publish and had not breached the contract. A different documentary, made by Andre Relis, came out in 2022; Relis said neither the Osbournes nor the Rhoads family helped him. In 2026 the book remains in print^†.