Legal Question in character names

Anyone can sue anyone else for almost anything.

The question is whether they'll win.

One question a jury will ask is how likely a person who knows the real individual, reading that book, will be to identify the character with the real person.

But that isn't the questioh you should be asking. The question you should be asking is "Does naming this character Fred Miller add something to the story for the ordinary reader that naming him Joe Smythe doesn't?"

But I'm not a lawyer. If you're seriously worried, talk to a real lawyer. He'll advise you to change the name, but you'll have paid $100/hour to hear it.

James does make a good point. Why use the real name if you think the real person is going to sue you? Unless it's important and necessary to the story. If not, change it.

To add to that however, the majority of people out there wont sue you for using their name unless the character in the book could be construed as slanderous to them. In the example you used, Frank Miller could sue you for dragging his name through the dirt whether it's the truth or not. But, to tie a nice little bow and bring it back to what James said, will Frank Miller win said case? Not likely.

But like James, I'm no lawyer. So take that for what you will.

You could always cheat and give your character the same initials.

scarletpeaches said:

You could always cheat and give your character the same initials.

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Or you could change the name to something very similar--something like Frank Mueller instead of your example of Fred Miller. But even so, you probably should go carefully. I seem to recall that Betty MacDonald was sued by her former neighbors, whose last name was Potter (or something like that), after she wrote about them and changed their name to Kettle. I don't know if the lawsuit was successful, though; probably not.

Hmm. Can anyone think of a name with the same whiny, loser sound as the name Rollo? Um, no specific reason. (Enormous apologies ahead of time to anyone with the misfortune to be named Rollo.)

I don't see why you'd even want to open yourself up to the possibilities of ticking a real person off over a fictional character's name. I'd rather find a name that better fits my character (as James first pointed out) than one that better fits some real life person. Make up a name, if you have to. Get cute, funny, or ironic. Brad Muser in my book is Sara's muse. Get it? Muser...muse...okay, okay, fine. Or Corinth. She's a very religious character. I got Corinth from - - - the books of Corinthians in the Bible. A guy named Ron served as inspiration for another character in a short story I once wrote, so I named him Rick. Etc...etc...etc...

You could always follow Ann Lamott's suggestion, if you are afraid a real person is going to recognize himself in your story and sue, just write the character with a very small penis.

No one is ever going to claim to be that character.

Stacey,

Although no one has mentioned it, you may have another problem.

You may be on solid legal ground, but if you can't find a publisher because they are all afraid of becoming co-defendants, your slimeball will never get to read about himself in your book because the only copy will be a doublespaced manuscript you keep in the dining room.

Stacey, you're obviously out for revenge against this Fred Mutler or whoever he is. May I suggest a method that won't jeopardize your novel, such as pitching paintballs at his house?

Literary revenge, while sweet, is like (fill in this blank with the bad habit of your choice <G>) - you should never do it in public. <VBG>

If you absolutely must do it in public (and believe me, I understand the urge) then just keep the first name the same. Give the character a different last name. *You* will know, and that's all that matters. And it will keep you clear of legal hurdles.

The mug on desk says: I kill off my enemies in my book. You're on page 12!

So yeah, I understand the urge.

Susan G.

Don't open yourself up for something you don't want, particularly when you are probably the only one who'll know.

The name isn't the end of it. If you recreate the circumstances, give a similar name, and the person in question decides that there is enough there for someone to make a connection, he has a case. Whether he will win or not is moot - you still face standing up in court. And if he wins, you have slandered him. You have called him a mugger, the courts say he wasn't.

Play safe. Make the mugging a credit card fraud, perpetrated by a 14 year old schoolgirl with a chinese name.

The chances of him (a) reading (or being able to read!), (b) recognising and (c) acting are tiny, so the risk is comparatively small, but how about when the book hits the best seller list and his more literate friends read it? "Hey Fred, there's a guy in this book with your name..."; then, when you sell the film rights and the multiple oscar dream comes true...

Legal Questions (using existing town, playing on actor names)

Hi everybody! I hope this is the right place to post a couple of questions. If not, please feel free to move it to the proper forum.

I'm writing a novel about a real place. It's a small town in New Mexico that does exist, and there are several geographical features of the town that make it absolutely unique and that are central to the story. For these reasons I don't want to fictionalize the town and give it another name.

I've gotten pretty creative about making up names for the characters... I've had some fun there. And so far I've googled all my made-up names, and none of them get any google hits. So am I safe from being sued there?

The second question is this: One of the minor characters in the book is a movie star. And I've given him a name that is close to a real movie star's name--who is still alive. For instance, I'll say my character's name in the book is Clark Gambrel (which would be close to Clark Gable) or for another example, lets say Reese Wiltfork (Reese Witherspoon). My actual character's name is neither of those (and a much funnier name btw) but you see what I'm getting at.

I would like to make my character's first name the same as the real movie star's first name, and then use my made-up, hilarious last name. So whaddya think? Would I get sued? My characterization of him is not negative in the book. I don't drag the character through the mud, but I need a famous movie star in there as a minor character, and the name I've thought of is pretty funny... to me and the few people I've tried it on anyway. Thanks!

To get a real legal opinion you should ask a real lawyer.

In my non-lawyer opinion:

1) Anyone can sue anyone for anything. See, for example, the guy who just sued Stephen King for plagiarism.

2) As long as you aren't using real names you should be okay, unless you run into a nutjob. And in the case of nutjobs, nothing you do or don't do will help.

If we're being realistic, your novel- however good it may be- is unlikely to be so popular that people would be suing over it. So unless you're doing something that is blatantly going to have legal problems, I'd just get the story written and make changes later.

The town exists, so why shouldn't you refer to it in your novel? Unless you mean in the worst possible way, like "Every inhabitant of this dirty little town is a low-life drug-crazed child-molester, and that's a fact." Which could raise eyebrows and blood pressure.

I didn't really associate your character names with the actor and actress.

-Derek

Thanks for the replies. I appreciate everybody's input.

I've been writing for strictly my own pleasure all my life. I love to rewrite the things I've written so that the story comes across in a fun, concise, and sometimes humorous way.

When I became aware of e-publishing I decided to go for it and get my novel out there in the world.

I've made up some unique names for my minor characters, but for several of my main characters I would like to use more realistic names. So let me get this straight... if I use a real town, and several real names, I am probably safe as long as no one with that exact first and last name lives in the real town. Correct?

I'm aware anyone can sue anyone else for anything. I just don't want to put myself in the position of giving someone a good reason to sue... so I ask. Thanks!

You have NOTHING to worry about.

Fiction writers have to doing that stuff for ages. It's all fiction. John Smith from Los Angeles is not going to sue you, unless you personally know John Smith and you're writing the story to defame him. Then he will have to PROVE it in court.

Just write the story. I wish writers are not so paranoid.

maestrowork said:

You have NOTHING to worry about.
Just write the story. I wish writers are not so paranoid.

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I agree.

I just wish there were less reasons to make them paranoid in the first place, too.

Write the story. If you need to fictionalize the setting or change character names before publication, this is an easy enough fix.

And, as Anne Lamott suggests:

If you have any male character who might inspire someone to claim it's based on him? Give the fictional dude a really, really small penis. Not too many men are going to say that character is him.

Why are you writing about me? I'm gonna sue you.

I like this place!

dpaterso said:

The town exists, so why shouldn't you refer to it in your novel? Unless you mean in the worst possible way, like "Every inhabitant of this dirty little town is a low-life drug-crazed child-molester, and that's a fact." Which could raise eyebrows and blood pressure.

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You can be pretty liberal with town names. When they were choosing a location for the movie 'Hamlet 2', they wanted first to make it in Tucson. When Tucson refused, they went to Albuquerque instead, but the new script contained a running joke about "Tucson, the Town Where Dreams Go To Die".