A question for the thinkers..

My historical novel uses people's real names - but it's set 200 years ago. Even so, I did worry about descendants of the people in the story taking issues with the story (even though it was based on documented fact.)

If you're talking about something that's current, I think you could have some real problems. Puma

With fiction you cannot use people's real names or they could sue you. You need to change the names and some of the personality traits or situations to make them different.

Wayne K said:

If i asked a mayor "What do you think of abortion?" and he said he was against it. But then lost an election because of it, he can sue me for saying it in a book. That makes no sense to me if the story is true.

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These kinds of lawsuits are generally defamation suits. Any statement in a book that uses the names of living people is under the same burden of proof as a newspaper. Newspapers get threatened with lawsuits all the time. That's why they keep meticulous records, including notes, tape recorded interviews, times and dates, and so on.

True crime books are closer to journalism and have to be careful that what they print about living people is correct and accurate. Memoirs have slightly more leeway because stories are often related to the best of the memoirists recollection, but there's still a responsibility to be truthful (see Frey).

Historical novels get away a lot more because the people are dead. You can't defame the dead.

ETA: Your mayor can't sue you if you can prove that he said it. If you printed the truth, whether in a memoir, a newspaper, or a novel, there is no lawsuit.

*sidles in and watches thread intently*

... I "think" the way it goes is that public figures, like mayors or celebrities, can be quoted without one needing to get permission, at least in news articles, and possibly in fictional works too. Private citizens like you and I, though, can not be quoted without writers getting permission from us first. That's just the way the law is written, "I think." May be wrong about this? So definitely don't use real names in your book.

Wayne K said:

What if someone is in the federal witness protection program?

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The CIA would destroy all the evidence and then haul you in to have you tortured and your memory erased. Twice.

Wayne K said:

I'm serious though. More than one of the characters in Black Dark are in the federal witness protection program, Their careers have been erased--they don't exist. How do you defame someone who doesn't exist anymore.

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Well, I suppose if they technically don't exist, they can't very well sue us...

Wayne K said:

I'm serious though. More than one of the characters in Black Dark are in the federal witness protection program, Their careers have been erased--they don't exist. How do you defame someone who doesn't exist anymore.

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I have no idea. But, in that extremely rare case, I'd strongly suggest NOT using anything close to their real names. That sounds illegal, assuming the witness protection designation is a legal designation. Their old identities might not exist, but the people themselves do.

Is the Ask the Agent thread still active? Seems a publishing professional should know this kind of thing.

I mentioned it elsewhere, but I'll mention it here, too. There's a novel called Sway in which members of the Rolling Stones appear as fictional characters. The author hasn't been sued and the books are still selling, so...you might look into that situation.

What kind of lawyer would know stuff like this?

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A literary attorney perhaps.

Wayne K said:

I put one up for the Jennifer Laughton and waited a while to be told to ask Nathan Bransford. I'm moving with this book so I kind of was hoping to get a direction. What kind of lawyer would know stuff like this?

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Any lawyer that deals with civil lawsuits or civil laws. Defamation of character or slander\libel is a civil matter. Most lawyers will answer this question on the phone for free.

TT

Wayne K said:

Why is it that a newspaper can say "So-and-so did this or that." but you can't do that in a book?

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Because a newspaper is presumably printing the truth. If a paper runs a defamatory article that is incorrect, they can (and likely will) be sued by the offended party. Whenever you write something about a real person, especially if the person is not a celebrity you had better make sure it's true or you may find yourself on the wrong end of a lawsuit.

Just save yourself the trouble and change the names and tweak the personalities so the real people are unrecognizable in your book.

Publishers have legal counsel. Whether a publisher or agent would want to take on a book that might cause legal problems is another matter. I expect they would weigh probable profit against probable legal costs against probable loss of face, etc, etc.

I would change all names to protect the innocent, that is, me. The only reason I can see to retain the true names is a hope of gaining publicity/sales steam from some kind of real life scandal or notoriety. Could be lucrative. Could be a total disaster.

I'd start with a lit lawyer, too, if I was determined to go ahead with the real names. Or, more likely and less expensively, with my family lawyer, 'cause she's sharp and would at least know where to send me.

Just my two cents, but don't change it to a novel! The greatest part of your story is that it's true.