Carrie12345 Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 I've done my internet research (inconclusive in the hypothetical, of course,) but I know we have quite a few writers here and figured I'd give the question a whirl. The "invasion of privacy" factor... does it only apply to things that would be considered abhorrent/deviant in general society? Or can it apply to milder things that a non-public (but easily identifiable) party would never anticipate other people, especially their children, being able to read one day? Not holding anyone to legal advice here, just looking for perspective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Do you mean basing a character on a person you know IRL? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted November 7, 2015 Author Share Posted November 7, 2015 Do you mean basing a character on a person you know IRL? A relative in a memoir, actually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasider Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 You're talking nonfiction? About a person still living at the time of publication? I don't know for sure, but personally, I wouldn't feel comfortable until I ran it by legal counsel. You could open yourself to a defamation suit. I believe that the plaintiff would have to prove that what you'd written is actually false. Perhaps the reverse burden would fall to you, that you must be able to support the truth of your own statements, rather than merely writing about your perceptions? http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Libel+and+Slander Not sure if my comments clarify or muddy the waters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasider Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Forgot to say, my writing mentors (published fiction authors) have advised me to never never ever admit who (IRL) any characters are based on. But yeah, everyone draws inspiration from somewhere, good and bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momma2three Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Nonfiction is open to libel laws, and you'd better be able to prove that you have good reason to believe what you've written is true (and libel in the US is based on it being slanderous AND untrue... if you can prove that what you say is true, it's not libel). Fiction is a bit trickier... you'll see a disclaimer in the front of fiction books saying "nobody in this book is based on anyone, living or dead." This is clearly a total lie, as it's impossible to imagine authors never, every putting any sort of personality traits, quirks, conversations, or actions of anyone they've ever heard of or met in their book. But it seems to do the trick. Occasionally there will be a libel case of someone saying that a book character was based on them, but my understanding is that these cases are very hard to win in the US. Different countries have different libel laws. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted November 7, 2015 Author Share Posted November 7, 2015 You're talking nonfiction? About a person still living at the time of publication? I don't know for sure, but personally, I wouldn't feel comfortable until I ran it by legal counsel. You could open yourself to a defamation suit. I believe that the plaintiff would have to prove that what you'd written is actually false. Perhaps the reverse burden would fall to you, that you must be able to support the truth of your own statements, rather than merely writing about your perceptions? http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Libel+and+Slander Not sure if my comments clarify or muddy the waters. My thoughts are more along these lines http://www.rightsofwriters.com/2011/01/can-you-tell-your-own-true-story-even.html than libel. And my concern is for people in the book, not for the author. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne in CA Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 A few years ago there was a board member who found herself and her family in a nonfiction book written by someone she knew. She felt quite betrayed. I don't blame her. Her family was not named, but she knew for a fact it was them. I felt very bad for her. I would never put someone in a book like that. Now, in the book I am currently editing, that I hope to be my first published work, the narcissist stepfather is based off a narcissist that I used to know. I didn't know he was one at the time, but later I realized that is what he was and I made the main character look like him, and do some of the things he did. They do not have the same name, but they look the same. I worked with this man a little bit and so it is easy for me to visualize the things he says and does based off my personal experience. He is NEVER going to read this book. The deep nature of the book makes it unlikely that it will every be read by someone so self absorbed, and it is a young adult book and he will be almost sixty by the time it is published. He fools most people who know him, so most people he knows he who might ever read the book, (again, so unlikely that him winning the lottery is more likely) are not going to recognize him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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