Am I misappropriating the right to publicity?

[Shwaybo]

Illinois/Wisconsin

Hey all. So, I'm writing a book. The book is about a certain celebrity (who shall for the time being, go unnamed). This celebrity lived at my house for about three weeks. No kidding. It's the truth. Anyway, shortly after leaving our house, he died. I want to write a story about his time living at our house. I've actually already written the book. It's called "Me and ____" (in the blank is the name of the celebrity who I am keeping confidential for now). I was about to publish it on amazon, when a few people advised me that doing so might be misappropriation, or violating a "right to publicity". Not exactly sure. Another well-published friend of mine told me not to worry about it. He said that public figures are "fair game". People write about them all the time. In fact, he says, there's a name for that sort of work. It's called a "Roman A Clef", or, a story based on true events. But another person I know (who is also an attorney) is saying that I could definitely get myself into trouble for making money off of somebody else's fame. She says it happens all the time. Her thoughts are that there are probably a lot of people who've met this celebrity personally, just like me, and just like me, they've probably thought of doing the same. This lawyer feels VERY STRONGLY that I should be really careful. Do you have any legal advice or expertise pertaining to how I should move forward with this? It seems people love to speculate, but knowing EXACTLY what to do... that's a little harder to get advice on. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[quincy]

Illinois/Wisconsin

Hey all. So, I'm writing a book. The book is about a certain celebrity (who shall for the time being, go unnamed). This celebrity lived at my house for about three weeks. No kidding. It's the truth. Anyway, shortly after leaving our house, he died. I want to write a story about his time living at our house. I've actually already written the book. It's called "Me and ____" (in the blank is the name of the celebrity who I am keeping confidential for now). I was about to publish it on amazon, when a few people advised me that doing so might be misappropriation, or violating a "right to publicity". Not exactly sure. Another well-published friend of mine told me not to worry about it. He said that public figures are "fair game". People write about them all the time. In fact, he says, there's a name for that sort of work. It's called a "Roman A Clef", or, a story based on true events. But another person I know (who is also an attorney) is saying that I could definitely get myself into trouble for making money off of somebody else's fame. She says it happens all the time. Her thoughts are that there are probably a lot of people who've met this celebrity personally, just like me, and just like me, they've probably thought of doing the same. This lawyer feels VERY STRONGLY that I should be really careful. Do you have any legal advice or expertise pertaining to how I should move forward with this? It seems people love to speculate, but knowing EXACTLY what to do... that's a little harder to get advice on. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Whether you can publish your book about the celebrity without too much legal risk (and there will always be SOME legal risk) depends in large part on the celebrity in question. You would be smart to contact the estate of the celebrity to see what rights are held by the estate.

As to writing about real events in your life, precautions still need to be taken so that what you write does not harm any one or any entity. Your truth may be someone else's defamation or invasion of privacy.

Your completed manuscript should be personally reviewed by a publishing law professional (one who knows well both IP laws and tort law) prior to publication. You should also have liability insurance enough to cover any lawsuit that might arise from the content of your book.

Good luck.

 

[Shwaybo]

Thanks!

Anyone else have a 2 cents to throw in?

 

[Zigner]

Anyone else have a 2 cents to throw in?

Listen to Quincy

 

[quincy]

Shwaybo, I received your private message. When I have extra time, I will see if I can locate anything that might head you off in the right direction - but I think you should plan on investing a good amount of time in research. The celebrity you wish to write about seems to have rights to his works and to his image scattered among several different people and entities.

You would be smart to contact your insurance agent to price out insurance enough to cover you in the event of a lawsuit. You can ask your agent about general liability insurance which can cover legal costs (attorney fees, court fees, settlements, judgments), and you might want to ask about errors and omissions insurance and business owner policies that can lump property insurance and general liability together, and you could also ask your agent about cyber liability insurance which is available specifically for online publications.

If you have a law school in your area, you might find some free assistance available there.

As a general rule, I do not respond to private messages from posters so expect any additional information I find to be posted in this thread. I will not use the celebrity's name here, though, so that will remain private.



Thank you, Zigner.

 

[quincy]

Shwaybo, on a brief search it appears that the celebrity's brother is handling estate matters for the family.

Although I said I do not generally respond to private messages, I WILL send on to you a link with the brother's contact information. You can start there and see where it takes you.

You could run into difficulties because the celebrity's name and his reputation are being used, among other things, to drive several charities and a fairly recent movie. I do not know how aggressive the family is in preserving his image but I imagine they are pretty protective.

Good luck.

 

[Shwaybo]

Quincy-

Thanks for your responses. I'd love to get in touch with you if possible. I know you don't like private messages, but if you PM me, It would be a huge help if I could get your number to ask a few more questions. If not, I understand. Thanks.

Shwaybo

 

[Silverplum]

Quincy-

Thanks for your responses. I'd love to get in touch with you if possible. I know you don't like private messages, but if you PM me, It would be a huge help if I could get your number to ask a few more questions. If not, I understand. Thanks.

Shwaybo

Assertive, I see. I've never seen such nerve here!

HIRE an attorney, for Pete's sake.

 

[quincy]

Quincy-

Thanks for your responses. I'd love to get in touch with you if possible. I know you don't like private messages, but if you PM me, It would be a huge help if I could get your number to ask a few more questions. If not, I understand. Thanks.

Shwaybo

As I mentioned earlier, I generally do not communicate with posters through private messages or off the board. If you have some additional questions that you believe can be answered by members of this forum, however, you are welcome to add them to your thread and we can address them here.

I can understand you wanting to limit the amount of time spent with an attorney in your area, to save costs, but I think you will eventually want to locate a lawyer in your state who is well-versed in publishing law to assist you in getting your manuscript prepared for publication. Help might be available to you through a law school.

Good luck.