Can I get sued for writing a novel about someone I know without getting their permission first?
The novel itself will be a fictional account of something that really happened. If a person recognizes themselves as a character in my story can they take legal action against me? More importantly, can they win?
The main antagonist in my story is starting to seem more and more like an ex-friend/boss of mine. The real bummer is that his personality is so generic that I would have probably wrote it the same way even if I had never met him.
- Andy D
Tags: Antagonist, Boss, Bummer, Fictional Account, Met, Personality, Writing A Novel
January 14th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
not unless you use their first and LAST name
January 15th, 2009 at 5:23 am
Yes to both questions. If they recognize themselves and if you have used your work to say anything derogatory against them, they could very well win. Pax-C
January 17th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
Yes they can, and yes they probably will. Cease and desist.
January 21st, 2009 at 1:26 am
Yes, you can definitly get sued, if you use both their first and last name, and the names of whoever else was involved. And they could win in court by a long shot.
They can and will take legal action against you, especially if it’s something they don’t want broadcasted.
My suggestion is to make the names SLIGHTLY similar and make the events a little different.
?Graceful Little Alice?
January 21st, 2009 at 11:42 pm
i would guess to say that in today’s world people will do anything for money, so the person could very well look at your work and say “omg that’s me. i never said that was ok. your a*s is mine.” i’d ask first, maybe get it in writing, just to be safe. then write away! =]
January 22nd, 2009 at 1:35 am
By reading your novel if the person’s friends and associates recognize that it alludes to him and also if it is something derogatory and spoils his reputation , the person can surely go to a court of law.
Winning or losing depends on your intention of writing the book. If it is written just to relate some events and character study without spoiling his name, you can win. But if you have written out of spite on the person then you could lose.
January 22nd, 2009 at 5:24 am
People can and will always try to sue for anything they think they can win. Authors write and publish unauthorized biographies of famous people all the time. You cannot be sued for writing a book like that unless the information in the book is untrue, or disparages the person’s character in some way, or causes any type of harm or financial loss to the person. If the work is fiction, they would first have to prove that the character in it uniquely identifies them, and it is very unlikely that they will be able to do this unless you mention them by name or use physical descriptors that are undeniably unique to them. The good thing about changing fact into fiction is that you can change as many of the details as you like. For example, if the person is a blond, write her as a brunette. If she was injured in a car accident in New York, write it as a skiing accident in the Colorado mountains. If she’s married and had an affair with another man, write it as an affair with another married woman. And replace all names of people and places with made up ones. Make it as nice or as nasty as you want. She may still know its her but she won’t be able to prove anything.
January 24th, 2009 at 5:07 am
If it is close enough to reality that they do recognize themselves and it does defame them, then you could be sued and loose. It all depends on how you describe the characters and events. However, for most people, especially beginning authors, many characters will have resemblances to people they know, there is nothing wrong with this, but I wouldn’t write ABOUT someone without their permission. If you are going to fictionalize the event, then have fun with it, fictionalize it a lot. Think of new characters with other backgrounds and see how they would have responded in those situations. You’ll probably even end up with a better story.