Likeness Rights for characters in novel

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salteb

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I am nearly finished writing a novel in which I asked a large number of people I have met, who have been married for over twenty years and used some of the best stories I received (Examples: Where and how they proposed, wedding blunders etc...) and added them as events in the life of my main characters. There is one person who I used several real life events ranging from the manner of death of his spouse being cancer and what instructions she left behind for her husband, his hobby as a woodworker and who he remarried (a female pastor from their church life) and I am wondering if any or all of these people would end up with a case for likeness rights against me if I publish the book. The rest of the book is completely fictional and even most of the events and happenings that really happened are not exactly how they truly occurred in the story. Any information on this is truly appreciated.

Thank you.
 
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I am nearly finished writing a novel in which I asked a large number of people I have met, who have been married for over twenty years and used some of the best stories I received (Examples: Where and how they proposed, wedding blunders etc...) and added them as events in the life of my main characters. There is one person who I used several real life events ranging from the manner of death of his spouse being cancer and what instructions she left behind for her husband, his hobby as a woodworker and who he remarried (a female pastor from their church life) and I am wondering if any or all of these people would end up with a case for likeness rights against me if I publish the book. The rest of the book is completely fictional and even most of the events and happenings that really happened are not exactly how they truly occurred in the story. Any information on this is truly appreciated.

Thank you.


We like to think that our life is entirely different from each other.
It isn't.
There are only so many behaviors that humans have, so our outcomes would be decidedly similar.

Many authors use a disclaimer.

You might want to speak with an attorney, before you publish your book.

Or, you could alter the incident to distance it from resembling any persons, living or dead.





It often reads something like this:

All characters appearing in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.


The police drama, Dragnet, used this disclaimer:

The story you are about to hear is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.




Finally, here is a very generic disclaimer:


Any resemblance to persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.
 
A agree with Army Judge and excellent disclaimers (although they are not absolute.) Change the names dramatically. Don't even use letters that may be the same, e.g. James Cameron and John Connor. Characteristics that don't need to be the same should not remain the same and you avoid much of the problem.
 
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