What can I do concerning the names and likenesses of real people?

openwindow said:

I am looking to write a little book. A couple of the characters in this book would have the names of real people and their likenesses too. I'm talking a about famous or at least semi-famous people. I'm wondering about the legal ramifications. If I finished it and it got published could I be sued or something?
P.S. This is the right forum for questions such as this, right?

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No, it's not, and yes, you could.

Try Basic Writing Questions, maybe. You can ask a mod to move the thread, if one doesn't happen along.

Yes, you could be sued.

It depends on what you're writing. If you're writing about their achievements and contribution to society then there shouldn't be any problem. In fact the famous person might actually help you with the publicity of the book.

But if you're writing about the person's drinking problem, the reason why he was in a drug rehab, his sex life, affairs, nervous breakdown, police case, fraud then there could be some problem.

It's best not to use famous people as characters, though Bruce Campbell does just this, and says very nasty things about some of them.

If you must, you can get permission. I did. It worked out nicely. Gordon Lightfoot is a character in my novel Sebastian's Poet. I had his permission prior to submitting it to publishers. His manager actually called me and told me how appreciative Gordon was and how much he liked the representation.

If I need to use a real life character in one of my novels, I will. If it works out it works out, if it doesn't I rewrite.