I will make this introduction short then get to my question.
So I am a comedian which makes me a public figure (though I am a nobody so not really so much yet) I had taken classes years ago to learn the art specifically and soon thereafter put the endeavor on hold but being in quarantine and whatnot I have a lot of extra free time and I am planning on making the best of it and relaunching said career in a very big way. More than likely hours and hours of jokes and skits I have worked on over the years but never released due to what I am actually here to ask about.
When I took the comedy classes I was cautioned against political comedy starting out. I was told that if I say the wrong joke in the wrong club and the club owner doesn't like it I could get blacklisted. I procrastinate and am paranoid far to much to put all the legal stuff on top of it. Over the years I have come up with quite a few jokes mostly about that guy in that house that happens to be white but quite a few other famous people. That I have never performed on stage for fear of possible litigation. But I am doing this now thre is no more procrastination this is happening so I need to make sure I dot my i's and cross my t's.
I am entirely aware angering the president's followers can put me at serious risk of physical harm but I have finally come to the conclusion that I got into this to make people laugh that laughter is the best temporary medicine and we really need as much of it as we can get right now. So the self censorship is done but I just wanted to get clarification on if my "way around getting successfully sued" is correct. I have read plenty of articles but I would really rather hear it from someone who actually knows what they are doing as opposed to random wiki articles ><
My understanding is a public figure is a public figure period. By being one you lose certain privacy rights and privileges those not in the public eye have. Which is why Paparazzi TMZ and reporters can ask any question or post anything about anyone at any time it seems. My understanding is those "consent to disclose" things don't apply to those as public figures (and really I don't qualify for one now I think its based of name recognition or something) but I have a feeling for better and worse when I start saying the post I am planning to post on youtube twitter facebook reddit instagram and every other platform possible things are going to move very quickly. I strongly suspect I will lose my other job but I would rather not go there and risk this illness anyway (most companies have clauses in their employee contracts about "shall not portray the company negatively directly and indirectly alike" they all have social media clauses and I am very confident the second I post this stuff I break them.
But the two scenarios I wanted to check on. If I use a public figures name outright whether I parody them or "allude to them" like "I think this may have happened" "we dont know that it did happen we dont know that it didn't" these are the kind of phrases that are about as airtight as I can get for a defence of not "making lies" about someone right?
Or what if I say something that is true about someone but don't attribute their name. Like if I say that orange man who stays in that house has said "insert comment here" Everyone knows who I am talking about it is very obvious but am I protected by not saying their name.?
All legalities aside we all know rules don't apply to that guy and if he wants to destroy someone he will. But I just wanted to check legally speaking what my rights would or wouldn't be. My understanding is parody is allowed period but if a parody contributed to "financial hardships" of said person being parodied. Do they have a legitimate suit against me?
Sorry for the rambling I really appreciate you getting back to me
Sincerely,
George
So I am a comedian which makes me a public figure (though I am a nobody so not really so much yet) I had taken classes years ago to learn the art specifically and soon thereafter put the endeavor on hold but being in quarantine and whatnot I have a lot of extra free time and I am planning on making the best of it and relaunching said career in a very big way. More than likely hours and hours of jokes and skits I have worked on over the years but never released due to what I am actually here to ask about.
When I took the comedy classes I was cautioned against political comedy starting out. I was told that if I say the wrong joke in the wrong club and the club owner doesn't like it I could get blacklisted. I procrastinate and am paranoid far to much to put all the legal stuff on top of it. Over the years I have come up with quite a few jokes mostly about that guy in that house that happens to be white but quite a few other famous people. That I have never performed on stage for fear of possible litigation. But I am doing this now thre is no more procrastination this is happening so I need to make sure I dot my i's and cross my t's.
I am entirely aware angering the president's followers can put me at serious risk of physical harm but I have finally come to the conclusion that I got into this to make people laugh that laughter is the best temporary medicine and we really need as much of it as we can get right now. So the self censorship is done but I just wanted to get clarification on if my "way around getting successfully sued" is correct. I have read plenty of articles but I would really rather hear it from someone who actually knows what they are doing as opposed to random wiki articles ><
My understanding is a public figure is a public figure period. By being one you lose certain privacy rights and privileges those not in the public eye have. Which is why Paparazzi TMZ and reporters can ask any question or post anything about anyone at any time it seems. My understanding is those "consent to disclose" things don't apply to those as public figures (and really I don't qualify for one now I think its based of name recognition or something) but I have a feeling for better and worse when I start saying the post I am planning to post on youtube twitter facebook reddit instagram and every other platform possible things are going to move very quickly. I strongly suspect I will lose my other job but I would rather not go there and risk this illness anyway (most companies have clauses in their employee contracts about "shall not portray the company negatively directly and indirectly alike" they all have social media clauses and I am very confident the second I post this stuff I break them.
But the two scenarios I wanted to check on. If I use a public figures name outright whether I parody them or "allude to them" like "I think this may have happened" "we dont know that it did happen we dont know that it didn't" these are the kind of phrases that are about as airtight as I can get for a defence of not "making lies" about someone right?
Or what if I say something that is true about someone but don't attribute their name. Like if I say that orange man who stays in that house has said "insert comment here" Everyone knows who I am talking about it is very obvious but am I protected by not saying their name.?
All legalities aside we all know rules don't apply to that guy and if he wants to destroy someone he will. But I just wanted to check legally speaking what my rights would or wouldn't be. My understanding is parody is allowed period but if a parody contributed to "financial hardships" of said person being parodied. Do they have a legitimate suit against me?
Sorry for the rambling I really appreciate you getting back to me
Sincerely,
George
