Just a quick legalistic question spawned by Empire that OSC or at least someone more knowledgable than me can answer.
What is the procedure for writing real people into your fictional works? i.e. did you have to (or is it just common courtesty perhaps) run your use of Bill O'Reilly past him (or his representatives). I would imagine it's not much of a problem in this case, since he doesn't really say anything controversial or anything, but it is a case of a real-life individual being incorporated into a work of fiction.
Posted by JonHecht (Member # 9712) on :
I think I have read before that when you become a public figure, your image becomes public right. So they wouldn't have to ask to use it. I could be wrong though.
Posted by Occasional (Member # 5860) on :
I think that only goes so far. If the fiction character was written in a way to make the person look bad or ruin a reputation, then there are libel issues. For instance, if you had a famous person doing things obviously illegal or morally repugnant with no real life evidence of that behavior then there is a case for legal action.
Posted by TheGrimace (Member # 9178) on :
quite possible, I'm just curious. It's especially important because (especially in politically charged novels such as this) simple character use could easily turn into using a real personality to push a specific agenda/point which could in turn potentially lead to defamation of character type issues.
Certainly not saying that anything controversial was happening with O'Reilly in Empire, but just wondering if there was a specific process for this type of thing.
Posted by Occasional (Member # 5860) on :
The Grimace, there is not any specific process. Real living people are used all the time, particularly in political stories.