posted
if i am writing a story that mixes factual events along with fiction can i use the names of the real people or do i have to get permisson from those people to use their names in my story if i am submitting it as fiction?
Posts: 52 | Registered: Jun 2005
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posted
I am not 100% certain, but if that person has been dead 80 years- go for it.
If what you are writing is "satire", go for it.
However, using living people (even in a work of fiction) can be dicey. If the living person can prove similarity and they don't like what you wrote- it becomes slander.
posted
I don't think you can get in trouble for using things like "he watched Michael Jordan dunk over Karl Malone" or "President Bush had just decided that we needed to invade Iraq". But I wouldn't use real people in events in which they never took part, unless those people are long dead. Ben Franklin in OSC's stories, for one example.
[This message has been edited by Smaug (edited April 13, 2006).]
posted
I remember, when I read "Gone With the Wind" for the second time, I noticed that Margaret Mitchell used real people, and had her characters know them, occasionally personally and quite well...but none of these "real people" wandered onto the set and spoke to the other characters.
posted
I'll answer this as a question of ethics rather than law.
You can use the identities of the real people as long as it is a matter of public record that they did the things you show them doing. You can also use the identities of real people if you can prove in court that they did the things you show them doing.
If you show a real person doing things that are only similar to things they actually did, then you should seek permission. If getting permission is difficult, then back off, you may be within your rights, but it was "legal" for Hitler to exterminate Jews, too. And by "similar" I mean that the specific action can't be proved, if you show President Clinton having sex with a fictional intern you invented, well that might be similar to a known event, but it would also be different from what really happened. If he didn't give you permission, then you'd be across the ethical line.
You can't get the permission of the dead. So you have to sort of try a thought experiment in a case like that, would old dead so and so have a problem with this?
Now, as for simply using the names of real people, you're allowed to do that as much as you want as long as that is the only aspect of their identity you use. For instance, if I write a story about a guy named William Jefferson Clinton who lives on a spaceship full of cloned orbital drop troops and has nothing in common with the ex-president other than his name, I'd be fine.
Basically, ask yourself if the reason that you are using these people's names is to suggest that they did or would have done things that you cannot prove they actually did in real life. If so, then don't do it. You can get away with a lot, under the laws, and if you're sued you can hire expensive lawyers and change our laws to make what you've done legal. That doesn't mean that it's right.
quote: it was "legal" for Hitler to exterminate Jews, too
I think you're wrong about that Survivor, and I know it's off the topic, but a statement like that requires proof and I'd like to know your source for such a claim.
posted
Smaug, Hitler ran Germany. So as the dictator, anything that he chose to do was "legal" and "in the country's interest." Didn't make it right, but that's the problem when evil people are put in power.
Posts: 329 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
While Hitler did do a number of things that violated international...Oh, hey, Ouran High School Host Club 2 is up!
Um, as I was saying, back when Hitler did it, it wasn't even against international laws. It is, of course, both against modern German and international law, but it was perfectly legal back then. The term genocide, along with international conventions prohibiting it, weren't established until after the end of WWII.
I know, it's bad to compare people that think it's okay to do something "because there's no law against it" to Hitler. But hey, there's no law against it
posted
Smaug, your objection to what Survivor said is now on the record.
Please, the legality of what Hitler did is not exactly the topic of this discussion, nor is it something that needs to be a topic of discussion (or argument) on this forum.
So let's leave what has been said at that, and go back to the question of using names in stories.
If there is more that needs to be said on that topic, that is. (For my part, I think Survivor's explication of the ethics of the question answer it sufficiently.)
posted
Ethics aside, you might consider the "name" question from a different standpoint: is it publishable? If you write something with a real person as a character and you have not gone through all the work to meet the ethical and legal criteria, you will run into a barracade of editors who say, "This isn't worth it to us to drag our company and impeccable name into a potential lawsuit."
I remember when the movie "Contact" came out, the director danced the fine line between fiction and reality when they used real footage of then president Bill Clinton to serve as the "president" in the movie. I don't recollect there was a lawsuit over it, but my memory is that Clinton was NOT asked for permission to use his image in the movie. While it was powerful at the time to see a movie with a real president in it, I noticed not long ago when I caught the movie on a TV rerun how dated it made the film. Same thing would happen to a book... using real people (at least in a modern setting) tends to date it. Of course, if you are writing a period piece it may serve your purpose.
Bottom line must be determined on whether the use of real people in your story helps or hinders you in accomplishing your final goal.
posted
thanks everyone. i was just wondering because i am writing a fictional story about the Rwandan genocide in 1994, but im also using factual information in it, which is why i was asking about using the names of real people.
Posts: 52 | Registered: Jun 2005
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posted
thanks everyone. i was just wondering because i am writing a fictional story about the Rwandan genocide in 1994, but im also using factual information in it, which is why i was asking about using the names of real people.
Posts: 52 | Registered: Jun 2005
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posted
Well, if you're going to be talking about things that happened, then you ought to give credit where it's due. You can't plagiarize history. But if you're going to have the "real" people interact with the "fictional" people, or some such, I think you'll need to tread carefully and decide if it's really needed.
But I don't see the problem if your "fictional" people mention what a "real" person did, because that's what really happened. So long as the facts aren't misrepresented, I doubt you'd have anything to worry about.
quote:Smaug, your objection to what Survivor said is now on the record. Please, the legality of what Hitler did is not exactly the topic of this discussion, nor is it something that needs to be a topic of discussion (or argument) on this forum.
So let's leave what has been said at that, and go back to the question of using names in stories.
Okay--sorry. (he hangs his head in shame) It's just that I have a habit of always questioning things people say--and I'm not sure it's always a good habit.
[This message has been edited by Smaug (edited April 17, 2006).]
posted
I was just making the point that legality is a pretty flexible standard. It's much safer if you go with something a little more definite. I think that Ray managed to put it a little more succinctly than I did. And without starting a Hitler thing either.
Not that I really advocate safety. I mean, I do but I'm not terribly sincere about it.
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