Is this legal?

enkidu007 · Oct 19, 2014

can I say in my book that my story was inspired by a certain celebrity.

Example "This story was inspired by britney spears" or would that be violating copyright?

thanks

Chris P · Oct 19, 2014

I doubt there's anything illegal about it, unless she appears in the book then you are treading a very dangerous path. Even if she doesn't, as a reader it would turn me off from your book if you said it was based on her. Pop culture references get dated very quickly (imagine if I wrote a book and said it was inspired by Kajagoogoo. Nobody'd care). That doesn't mean I think your story idea is bad or that you have to change anything about the story, just leave out the "inspired by Brittany Spears" part. It's not needed. Just tell the story.

DancingMaenid · Oct 19, 2014

I'm not sure if it's illegal, but I think it could possibly cause trouble if the celebrity doesn't like it.

I would leave it out. It's usually not that hard for people to tell when stories are strongly based on real people/situations (when I watch procedurals that have a lot of ripped from the headline plots, like Law & Order: SVU, I can often recognize exactly what the plots are based on). And honestly, the story should ideally be able to stand on its own even if people don't see the Britney Spears connection or aren't familiar with Spears. If people don't see the connection, a note about who the story is based on probably won't make a difference.

TheaFair · Oct 19, 2014

There's some iffiness to using a person's name, but only if they decide they don't like it and want to take it as defamation of their character or something like that. You also might exclude some people from reading it if they don't like the person.

I agree you should leave it out and let it stand on its own. I'll bet you'll get some people who will twig to it, but others won't. As long as it's not needed you're probably better off not naming anyone.

Jacob_Wallace · Oct 20, 2014

It might be legal, it might not be legal. Considering you posted this in the erotica forum though, I'll say it's not even remotely a good idea.

Maryn · Oct 21, 2014

I'm not a lawyer, and for legal advice, that's what you want. But my best guess is that your sexual fantasy novel "starring" a celebrity, as per your notes, even if you've named her or him something else, will be deemed harmful to his or her reputation, no matter how well it's written, regardless of whether it's pretty much what that person's sex life really is like, and any other factors.

Don't do it. Or consult an attorney and heed what he or she says.

Maryn, thinking it a needless risk

enkidu007 · Oct 21, 2014

Maryn said:
I'm not a lawyer, and for legal advice, that's what you want. But my best guess is that your sexual fantasy novel "starring" a celebrity, as per your notes, even if you've named her or him something else, will be deemed harmful to his or her reputation, no matter how well it's written, regardless of whether it's pretty much what that person's sex life really is like, and any other factors.

Don't do it. Or consult an attorney and heed what he or she says.

Maryn, thinking it a needless risk

Hmm... I see what you guys are saying. That is why I phrase "Inspired by" doesn't mean that the character looks like the celebrity, guess or I still get in trouble even with that phrase?

thanks

AndieX · Oct 21, 2014

Jacob_Wallace said:
It might be legal, it might not be legal. Considering you posted this in the erotica forum though, I'll say it's not even remotely a good idea.

Good advice.

I can't see that using a celebrity name will increase your readership. The writing should attract on its own merits - so whether its legal or not - it's probably best avoided.

SierraLee · Oct 21, 2014

To think about this another way, what do you gain from using the phrase? To me, it seems like regardless of how serious the possible consequences are, they're larger than the basically nonexistent benefits.

Ken · Oct 21, 2014

tabloids get away with this all the time
making up stories about celebs, often sexual in nature
britney gives birth to an alien, etc

for some reason they are above the law when it comes to stuff like this
never understood that ?

Aggy B. · Oct 21, 2014

Ken said:
tabloids get away with this all the time
making up stories about celebs, often sexual in nature
britney gives birth to an alien, etc

for some reason they are above the law when it comes to stuff like this
never understood that ?

They also have large legal departments and tend to settle any suit over libel. I kind of recall that they tend to use vague phrases in the story itself that only sort of support the headline.

veinglory · Oct 21, 2014

People who do this use indirect allusions not actually naming the person. But they still get sued from time to time.

Cathy C · Oct 21, 2014

There's a claim that is often used in lawsuits against authors and journalists. It's called "Unjust Enrichment." The theory is that the author/journalist is using the celebrity of the person to increase sales of the work. Without that name attached to the work, courts have mused, the author/journalist would not have sold as many copies. They therefore often find in favor of the celebrity.

Be careful with celebrities. It can come back to bite you later.

dangerousbill · Oct 25, 2014

Look up 'personality rights' in Wikipedia. Using a celebrity's name can be full of booby traps.

Poet of Gore · Oct 27, 2014

enkidu007 said:
can I say in my book that my story was inspired by a certain celebrity.

Example "This story was inspired by britney spears" or would that be violating copyright?

thanks

you think britney has a trademark on your morningwood?
oh, does that mean she signed it?

and we are talking original britney and not bald head britney, right right?

gingerwoman · Oct 28, 2014

It doesn't "violate copyright", but I suggest you check out this link re risks.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/cel...ues-author-of-novel-that-stole-her-image.html

TuckerMcCallahan · Oct 28, 2014

gingerwoman said:
It doesn't "violate copyright", but I suggest you check out this link re risks.

An excellent post and the exact article I was hunting to put up myself. Thank you! The best and safest move is to leave the real name mentions out.

rachelkramerbussel · Nov 2, 2014

I'm not sure of the legal answer, but Kevin Federline's aunt wrote an erotic novel that she said was inspired by him and Britney and that got a lot of press, but mainly because of who she is:

http://www.crushable.com/2012/04/24...y-ducet-britney-spears-fifty-shades-grey-163/

I got my start in erotica in 2000 with a story called "Monica and Me" about Monica Lewinsky for an anthology of celebrity erotica called Starf*cker but I made sure to ask who would be assuming legal responsibility and was told the publisher would. I know Monica later found out (from a friend of mine) and apparently wasn't bothered. My two cents would echo everyone else's, to allude but not say it outright, then you make it more of a guessing game for the reader.

Is this legal?

enkidu007

Chris P

Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred

DancingMaenid

New kid...seven years ago!

TheaFair

Mousy

Jacob_Wallace

Maryn

Baaa!

enkidu007

AndieX

SierraLee

Boldly Nervous

Ken

Aggy B.

Not as sweet as you think

veinglory

volitare nequeo

Cathy C

Ooo! Shiny new cover!

dangerousbill

Retired Illuminatus

Poet of Gore

gingerwoman

TuckerMcCallahan

Insufferable Know-It-All

rachelkramerbussel