IGX

Tim, are writers insulated legally when writing fiction that's actually based on true events but you change up names, locations etc., but everyone involved knows exactly what the "fictionalized" event is about and they're not down with you telling it? Did that sentence make sense? Or do you just have to deal with being sued if people take offense or want a piece of your earnings?

Sounds like you're nearly done with Masturbation Cabin: The Decay of Tom Kasill?

buckethead wrote:Sounds like you're nearly done with Masturbation Cabin?

The sequel could be "masturbation masterclass,how to masturbate everywhere".

Damn, I keep forgetting how smart some of you fuckers are. Let's try to keep this shit quiet though.

"Out of the Closet and into a Tent; the Ether Fueled Adventures of Shapecharge"

Shapecharge wrote:Tim, are writers insulated legally when writing fiction that's actually based on true events but you change up names, locations etc., but everyone involved knows exactly what the "fictionalized" event is about and they're not down with you telling it? Did that sentence make sense? Or do you just have to deal with being sued if people take offense or want a piece of your earnings?

Defamation law is really complicated; it's an agglomeration of new and old doctrines.

Thing is though, you can always get sued. There's no absolute privilege to not be sued. And once you're in court, lots of things can happen.

Because I write non-fiction, I am not familiar with the rules of fiction. From what I've gathered, Bud the Grape Ape is pretty much on the money.

I've known writers who based their novels on notorious crimes and none of them were ever sued. One writer pal named a villain after a the owner of a local graveyard who was in the news for not burying bodies but stacking in a warehouse. He was waiting for warmer weather when the digging would be easier. Thing is, the guy had a sinister sounding name. My friend used that name. But the action took place in New Orleans and had nothing to do with graveyards or unburied bodies. The guy made noises about suing my pal, but it never happened.

Mostly, in non-fiction, truth is an absolute defense. But still, odd things happen. When I wrote my serial killer book, the killer, John Gacy, had a young guy who worked for him. Research showed that the kid had sex with Gacy and that he was aware of the last three kills. Lawyers made me take the sex thing out: a clear invasion of privacy. But they had no problem with the suggestion that the kid was complicit in multiple murders.

And I was sued by Gacy. It was thrown out of court on six counts, one of which is that a book I published in 1984 could hardly have gotten him convicted in 1980. Also, if I had done him harm, he brought the case in the wrong. Since he hated me, I expected he'd try the correct court for a second go 'round. Before that could happen, he was executed.

Now, if someone says, "I'll sue you," I give them my best Clint Eastwood whisper:
T"he last guy who tried that is dead."

Shape:
This may be of some help.

http://www.dmlp.org/blog/2010/when-art- ... on-fiction

Every other episode of Law And Order is based on a real life story. That "not based on real life events or persons" disclaimer at the end of an episode must carry some weight in the lawsuit world.

Good info. Thanks gentlemen.

The disclaimer helps. But...

"Novelists may wonder whether some sort of disclaimer can shield them from liability. While a disclaimer can help a publisher or author demonstrate lack of malicious intent and demonstrate to readers that the work is fiction (and thus assist in defending against a libel suit), a disclaimer will not prevent readers from interpreting a fictional work as containing defamatory falsehoods if the information is specific enough and reasonably identifies the plaintiff. "

http://www.dmlp.org/blog/2010/when-art- ... on-fiction

"aspiring novelists who plan to "write what they know" should heed the warning of a 2009 libel case from Hall County, Georgia. In November of that year, a Georgia jury returned a $100,000 verdict for plaintiff Vickie Stewart, finding that a character in The Red Hat Club, the 2003 New York Times best-selling novel by Haywood Smith, had been based on Stewart's life and inspired by Stewart's involvement with the Red Hat Society (a real-life organization of women over 50 who dress in red hats and purple clothes and get together with the goal of celebrating and enjoying life to the fullest). The case went to the jury on claims of defamation and publication of private facts (though the jury ultimately rejected the publication of private facts claim) because the Judge found over two dozen specific similarities between the lives of the plaintiff, who had known the novel's author for over 50 years, and the character "SuSu," a middle-aged flight attendant who figures prominently in the book.

The similarities between "SuSu" and Stewart included where the two grew up, their occupations, the fact that both women became engaged to men who were already engaged to other women, their pursuit of financial judgments from their ex-husbands, and the circumstances of their first husbands' deaths. According to the complaint in this case, Stewart took issue with the novel because it portrays SuSu as an alcoholic who engages in lewd and lascivious behavior, both in private and on the job as a flight attendant."

In other words, if you are using a real life person as a model for your fictional character, be sure fictionalize the character.

It also helps if the love interest in the story lives in another country-- like Italy.

Ask the lawyers for Chris Kyle's estate.