Are we committing Libel?

[neenaw]

What is the name of your state? Arkansas.

My stepdaughter and I have written a book about how divorce can affect children...her life's experiences with her estranged father. She writes her side of the story, I write mine and her father's. Naturally her mother is the villian in what I write but it is written as what we believed to be true at the time...whether or not it was true...we believed it true at that time. The names have been changed and we preface the book with the idea that we have interviewed someone else and write for them. The mother objects to this being published, us using our real names as the authors. She feels exposed. If we publish, are we committing libel?

 

[BelizeBreeze]

It is a bit stupid to be writing the book under your own names yet alluding to the fact that the story is of 'interviewed' parties.

And no, it's not libel as long as you offer impressions not as fact but as your experience.

 

[neenaw]

Well, call me stupid, but why is it stupid to say we interviewed others in order to protect family?

 

[meganproser]

Well, call me stupid, but why is it stupid to say we interviewed others in order to protect family?

Because no one is going to believe it is anyone's story but your own. Even if it really WAS someone else's story, if the general facts of the story match those of your real life, people would believe it's your story.

whether or not it was true...we believed it true at that time.

If you make statements that qualify as defamatory, it doesn't matter that you BELIEVED the statements were true.

Write your book using all fictitious names. If and when you find a publisher, she will advise you on the legalities and determine how to proceed.

Good luck!

 

[stephenk]

"My stepdaughter and I have written a book about how divorce can affect children"

Sound more like a "let's get back at evil mom" book.

 

[neenaw]

Well, call me stupid, but why is it stupid to say we interviewed others in order to protect family?

Because no one is going to believe it is anyone's story but your own. Even if it really WAS someone else's story, if the general facts of the story match those of your real life, people would believe it's your story.

whether or not it was true...we believed it true at that time.

If you make statements that qualify as defamatory, it doesn't matter that you BELIEVED the statements were true.

Write your book using all fictitious names. If and when you find a publisher, she will advise you on the legalities and determine how to proceed.

Good luck!

Should the author names be fictitious also?

 

[neenaw]

Should the author names be fictitious also? And another question...if someone made statements to us, can we use those statements in the book? Even if the statement was a threat/promise?

The book does not make any of the adults look good...the primary message is what the child actually experienced because the well-meaning parents couldn't get along. So it's not a get back at evil mom book...dad and both stepparents are guilty of bad judgement, also.

So how on earth do we avoid libel? Help! We have a publisher already! Just waiting on us!

 

[neenaw]

Here is an exerpt from the book...someone please tell me if this is libelous.

"It was rumored that Richard was on his sixth marraige and had two sons of his own whom he never saw and wasn't supporting. I don't know if the rumor was true, but at the time, it was something we found easy to believe. Believing the rumor, our minds dizzied with the thoughts that he abandoned his own children, yet vowed to come between two precious little girls and their daddy! What kind of man could do such despicable things?"

(the father)"had total contempt for this man, who proved to be nothing but trouble for us from the beginning, and who we felt actively engaged in trying to destroy Ben's relationship with his girls."

Is this libel if it is published?????

 

[meganproser]

"It was rumored that Richard was on his sixth marraige and had two sons of his own whom he never saw and wasn't supporting.”

Assuming the “rumor” was false, I think Richard would have enough there to sustain a motion to dismiss. In other words, the statement is sufficient to entitle him to his day in court.

You obviously dislike some of the subjects of your book. Hence, it would be easy for these people to establish that your publication of these events was done out of malice ($$$).

Along with defamation, you are risking an invasion of privacy suit.

If you have written material that could prove harmful to another individual, you should know that the individual only needs to prove you showed the material to ONE other person (other than your co-author or publisher), in order to pursue a claim.

If you plan to show your manuscript to others, make sure there is no information in it that could lead to the identification of the real people you’ve written about.

If you have a publisher, he/she ought to have access to an attorney that specializes in such matters. There is no simple answer to the question of how to proceed with a book such as this. You need the advice of a qualified attorney who has reviewed all of the facts.

 

[meganproser]

the primary message is what the child actually experienced because the well-meaning parents couldn't get along

BTW, there can't be enough information out there on THIS issue.

The problem is getting the parents to listen to or read the stories of such children. I believe there ought to be a Court ordered program that requires divorcing parents to attend classes on such things.

 

[neenaw]

Thank you! We will try to clean the manuscript up a lot. There is only one chapter that has so much "dislike" displayed. It was written for history purposes. The rest of the book focuses more on the child and her relationship with her daddy.

Her daddy hasn't read the manuscript but says if we wrote the truth, go for it. He doesn't want to relive anything, but doesn't mind others learning from our mistakes. The daughter isn't so kind toward him as she is expressing her feelings as a child. They do kiss and make up in the end, though!

Thanks for everyone's input!
neenaw

 

[PhiKappaPhi]

Libel

Do not publish something unless you know it to be true and can prove it to be true. End of Story.