A book commemorating the life and brief-but-brilliant career of guitarist Randy Rhoads will be allowed to go forward after a judge sided with the publisher in a court case brought by Rhoads' family.

The trial, which has been working its way through the courts for two years, centered on the Rhoads family's claims that materials used for the book were initially supplied for a documentary that was never finished, and argued that their misappropriation constituted not only theft, but a deliberate lie on the publisher's part; as part of their 2012 statement on the case puts it, "They have falsely implied that they have the Rhoads family’s support and cooperation for the unauthorized book ... [the authors] used, without permission, photos, excerpts from interviews and other personal information that had been provided to them by the Rhoads family solely and exclusively for use in the authorized documentary film and for no other purpose."

According to Law360 (via Loudwire), a California appeals court has ruled that the book can proceed on First Amendment grounds, reversing "a lower court’s denial of a motion to dismiss claims of fraud, invasion of privacy, misappropriation of names, voices and likenesses and unfair competition."

Neither side appears to have commented yet, and there's no known publication date for the book, which was originally announced under the simple title 'Randy Rhoads.'

You Think You Know Ozzy Osbourne?

Randy Rhoads' and Other Rockers’ Yearbook Photos

More From 96.1 The Eagle