Question for authors

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Question for authors

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1oldstick
Oct 5, 2013, 7:31 am

I have begun my autobiography and have come up with a question. When I write about other people should I use their names or must I get their permission? Must I try to find them or can I just put a disclaimer in the book in case of inaccuracies?So far I have just written,'a boy' or 'a teacher' but it lacks impact. Help!

2zjakkelien
Oct 8, 2013, 2:56 am

I'd be careful with using real names. Not everyone might like being written about. Perhaps you can use fictional names if you don't want to ask permission?

3JWarren42
Oct 8, 2013, 10:57 am

If you use real names and don't get permission, you can be sued. It doesn't always happen, but it can. It can still happen if you change names, though it is far less likely. Better to get permission, legally (and morally).

4HarryMacDonald
Oct 8, 2013, 6:03 pm

Yes, yes: temper candor with caution, consideration, and good taste. Otherwise, as noted in posts 2 and 3, you could be in very hot water. The notable exception concerns public figures, who for almost fourty years have been considered fair game, at-least under US law. Of-course, the definition of "public figure" is elusive, but every day you hear, for example, that John Boehner is a boehne-head. Per a Supreme Court decision of (I believe) 1974, he has to take it, in consequence of holding public office. On the other hand, if you publish the exact same thing about, say, your kid's high-school principal, then you may have a date in court.

5lilithcat
Oct 8, 2013, 8:03 pm

You're getting a lot of crap advice here.

The fact is that, in the U.S. anyway, as long as what you write isn't defamatory, you can use the person's real name, whether or not she's a public figure.

Sure, anybody can sue anyone for anything. That doesn't mean they have a case.

Frankly, your publishers would likely run anything you write past their lawyers. Rely on that.

6HarryMacDonald
Oct 8, 2013, 10:06 pm

This message has been flagged by multiple users and is no longer displayed (show)
In re #5. Joan, you're doing it again: the pot calling the kettle black. Stick to librarianship, or whatever in Hell it is that you do (and anonymously at that, which inspires less than perfect confidence in your fatwah). For starters, oldtsick may well be contemplating self-publication, which pretty-well obviates the question of publishers' lawyers. Next, the whole reason these matters are so tricky is that "defamatory" is a highly elastic concept, hence the temptation (among some) to try to drag some well-meaning person into court. I don't know -- or much care -- about your actual experience in these matters, but the fact that suits need not have merit to be filed is precisely why caution is a prudent policy. One can hassled near to death before even the first motions are filed. Meanwhile, now I remember why I Blocked communications from you months ago. -- Goddard

7bitser
Oct 9, 2013, 12:51 am

If what you stick to what actually occurred, then you're on solid ground. I've written two memoirs (major presses) and a great many articles on my experiences, without any threats or lawsuits. My accounts were in several cases disliked by my subjects, and some of them still do not speak to me.

I sent manuscript copies to people who figured prominently in my books, asking for notes and corrections, and they responded in a helpful way.

Where there were hard feelings, I changed names and personal descriptions to protect the identity of the subject, without changing the substance.

8oldstick
Oct 11, 2013, 6:27 am

#7 I think your method should suit me. I didn't intend to write anything defamatory, but I would self publish it so the question of lawyers would not arise. I think giving some of the people concerned view of the manuscript is what I had intended but if I only name the ones I have lost touch with, just to say I knew them, without saying any more about them I think I might be safe. No-one can sue me for saying they existed, can they? ( one of them is no longer alive)

9lilithcat
Oct 11, 2013, 8:28 am

> 6

"what the hell" I do is law.

10Christine_Tate
Mar 5, 2014, 9:39 am

Follow your conscience and ask yourself, "If I were on the other end of the shoe, how would I want people to treat me?". Then give other people the courtesies that you would want someone to give to you. And remember, "All things are lawful to me, but not all things are expedient" (quote from Bible).

11Cecrow
Mar 5, 2014, 10:05 am

As you're seeing from the responses, a lot depends on the context of what you're doing. My grandfather wrote his memoirs for the benefit of friends and family before he died. He included detailed information about many of the people he'd known, which we now value highly after his passing. In fact, I wish he'd spent a larger portion of his focus on this and been even more detailed in many places, as all he knew is now lost to us and he's not here to clarify or add to what he wrote.