Below is a conversation I had concerning writing about people without their express permission. This came in from an author:
Can someone write about you in a book about their life without your permission? And can they write about you if you’re dead?
Here is my response:
I am not an attorney and can’t legally give you legal advice. Please consult with an attorney for your specific legal needs.
That said, we strongly discourage authors from writing about living people without written (and notarized!) permission from that individual, protecting the author and their publisher from all future legal action that could be brought by the individual.
Dead people can’t sue but the author of Running with Scissors was sued by the deceased author’s family because of the way he portrayed them. Also, while state laws vary, if you write about a deceased celebrity, the estate may be able to sue if you are using that celebrity’s name/likeness to sell something (including a book).
“In 1984, however, the California legislature enacted the Celebrity Rights Act which changed the law. This statute, presently found at Civil Code section 3344.1, provides that the right of publicity descends and lasts for 70 years after the death of the person. A similar statute, known as the Astaire Celebrity Protection Act (California Civil Code section 3344), prohibits the unauthorized use of the name, voice, signature, photograph or likeness on or in products, merchandise or goods for those who are living. Both statutes attempt to balance First Amendment rights against rights of publicity and privacy.” – Source: The Right of Publicity by Mark Litwak, Esq.
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Angela Hoy lives on a mountain in North Georgia. She is the publisher of WritersWeekly.com, the President and CEO of BookLocker.com and AbuzzPress, and the author of 24 books.
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There are some good summaries of legal issues here, but I did not see anything about using protected speech as a safeguard against libel. I mean using official documents, meeting minutes and DOJ press releases. Although not 100 percent solid, this does help. In a foreign land I once faced a felony charge of libel, as did my poor, long-suffering wife. I see that some officials in the U.S. are starting to use criminal libel against against political opponents. Some states still have this terrible law.
I wrote a fictional story using a dead man’s name, who lived and died as an atheist. In this time-travel story, time travelers from the 8th millennium arrive in the 21st century and take them as tourists to witness Jesus rise from the dead. This fictional storyline is used in a non-fiction science-religion research book to reveal that human events have been controlled as revealed centuries in advance to very day of the predicted events. I asked Trilogy editors if I should avoid using that person’s name. They stated it was acceptable.
However, what you write above could be a problem. I am revising the book due to breach of contract. Should I change the Atheist’s name?
The reason for using his name is that my research answers this question with an analysis of NASA scientific data.
God should be detectable by scientific means simply by virtue of the fact that he is supposed to play a central role in the operation of the universe and the lives of humans.
Has Science Found God?
Dr. Victor J. Stenger,
American particle physicist, philosopher, author, and religious skeptic
In the fictional portion of the storyline, I use only his first name except for one time, which gives the full name and his lifetime work and viewpoints.
Maybe I should change the last name in the fictional storyline?
Also, I have a question about using a few chapters of an audiobook to collect names and promote the book’s sales. Do you have any guidelines on doing that?
Are there DRM websites that could control the sale of audio or e-books instead of using Amazon?
The book has about 70 5-star reviews. Everyone likes the book. Amazon removed about 25 of those 5-star reviews. I wrote to Amazon. They changed the reviews so only 10 reviews can be read instead of the 39 now available. Amazon is asking that I write for permission to see the other reviews. Is that permissible? , or whatever???
IN my opinion, I think Amazon AI is discriminating against me as an author writing cutting-edge research that goes against standard secular norms. Does anyone else have this problem
It’s a pity you don’t have a like/dislike ‘button’ for readers to click on to give you an idea of whether readers are actually reading or not. This is actually depressing news for writers like me who believe in ‘Freedom of expression’ no matter how had it hurts the recipient. I’d rather they faught back verbally rather than snivelin and whining to a vastly over-paid lawyer.