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Some questions... - 4/6/2008 12:50:40 PM
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IonMoon
Posts: 972
Joined: 4/21/2005
From: The Unted State of Confusion
Status: online
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I am thinking about starting a literary non-fiction work. I have only ever written fiction or things based on my own life.
Where can I find info about the legalities?
I am wondering things like... if all the names are changed (and situation not unique enough to figure out who they are), do I have to have statements from people who are in the book (ie the family members & friends of the subject)? Will I have to reveal to the publisher the subjects identity?
Tara P
_____________________________
http://www.geocities.com/hallscola67/KyliesHomemadeShopIndex.htm
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RE: Some questions... - 4/9/2008 10:22:27 AM
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Kathrynpagecamp
Posts: 43
Joined: 4/11/2005
From: Chicago Area
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Unless you have written waivers from everyone in the book (or say only good things about them, which would make for a dull story), you are better off changing a number of the circumstances and calling it fiction.
Truth is a defense to a libel lawsuit, but even if you win, just getting sued is expensive and can be bad for your reputation (and your future writing career). For nonfiction, publishers don't usually want to take the risk unless the writer is well-known or famous (so they can be assured of significant sales) or all the main characters are dead (since a libel action dies with the subject). A publisher may also have concerns about fiction if the characters are based on well-known people and events, but at least the risk of a lawsuit is smaller.
As far as revealing identies to the publisher, if you are writing a non-fiction work, the answer is probably yes. For fiction, the publisher may ask if the characters are based on real people, in which case you tell the truth and give whatever information the publisher asks for.
_____________________________
Kathryn
Author of In God We Trust from FaithWalk Publishing
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RE: Some questions... - 4/19/2008 12:11:35 AM
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knot2witty
Posts: 69
Joined: 4/2/2008
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Kathryn, I know I didn't ask the question but thank you for answering it. I've been wondering the same thing. I'm in the process of self-publishing non-fiction book about part of my spiritual journey. There are quite a few people in it. What I did was change the names of most of them and, where I thought they could be identifiable, I changed some of the circumstances as well.
Tara, something I've discovered (painfully) is that even if you're saying only positive things about the people you've included they might still object. I came home from a conference one year all excited about what I had learned. I was very careful to say nothing about the stories (or names) of the individuals I heard speaking or encounters. What I did do, however, was name the organization and the national leader of that organization with the intent of giving him credit for something he had done (it was really awesome). He highly objected and a whole mess ensued.
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