“Can I publish somebody else’s old journal/diary?”
“I am in possession of a journal that was published in the 1940’s. Is something like this publishable?”
libel
“Can an LLC protect me from getting sued?”
“I’ve written a book that contains lots of stories about people I’ve know. A friend told me to set up an LLC and then can’t get sued. Is this true?”
Q – Can You Claim to Have “Channeled” Deceased Celebrities in Your Book?
I received an email from a woman who claims to have written a book about her channeled conversations with deceased celebrities. Whether you believe in channeling (a two-way conversation between the living and the dead) or not is irrelevant…
“Can I still get sued by someone I wrote about in my book if I give away copies instead of selling them?”
“I would want 20-30 copies for personal use and distribution but I do not want to make it available for sale to the general public. I use real examples from my career and real names…”
An Author’s Occupational Hazard: Being Sued for Libel or Defamation by Harvey Randall, Esq.
If the court finds that the offending statement constitutes opinion, it is not actionable.
Is someone trashing you online? Here’s how to turn that libel into profits!
“While healthy competition isn’t a bad thing, what happened next was awful. The owner of the website started posting negative reviews about my service online. She has never used my service. As far as I know, she and I are the only ones offering this service. She posts under different names but the claims made and the writing style show it’s the same person…”
“My friends gave me verbal permission to include them in my book. Can they sue me later?”
“Three of my characters are based directly on real, living people. All three have read my novel, and given me permission to represent them as I have but…”
“My friend threatened to sue me for quoting her (but not naming her) in a short story. What can I do?”
My friend said, “If you write about me, I’ll sue you.” But, I’ve already published the book!
Hiding Won’t Protect You From a Libel Lawsuit. Just ask John.
Some authors are tempted to write what they want, and to hell with anyone who doesn’t like it.
“I want to write about my childhood friends. Can they sue me for mentioning things that happened back then?”
I’d really like to use their names, and surprise them with a copy of the book when it’s finished. What advice can you give me about this?