If one were writing fiction in which a company, say, Universal Studios (theme park) had some role, what must a writer do to avoid offending them (and especially their lawyers) with respect to trademarks and similar matters. (Obviously, slander, libel, threats, inciting riots, and such are a bad idea.)
Some (possibly irrelevant) scenarios: 1) the story has minor references to the company 2) the story is set in the company's campus 3) the story has strong ties to the company but is not set in their campus.
This sort of question does not call for guesswork; only informed answers are valuable. Thanks.
[This message has been edited by WouldBe (edited August 14, 2007).]
Posted by The G-Bus Man (Member # 6019) on :
Well, most fiction gets around this by having a thinly-veiled fictional version of the company, and OSC says not to worry. As someone with some education in communications law, I agree with OSC and you shouldn't have to worry, although my personal preference is to lean towards the former.
Posted by J (Member # 2197) on :
WouldBe, do a search on "trademark" on this site. This topic has been addressed by an intellectual property attorney.