real life experiences by real people

This has now made me think about something I asked a few weeks ago, I have used the name of Professor Christian Barnard in the first chapter of my book, he is doing his job and is doing it well, the story is that he has just been given information from an extra dimensional being of how to restart a human heart and he brings back to life the protagonist, people said this is ok but now I'm unsure, sorry to muscle in on the question someone else has asked but with Jimmy talking about the disclaimer I can't do that, so as he isn't being maligned in any way am I safe?

Regards Paul G

Hi, Patricia!

I won't repeat any of Lorraine's excellent advice, but add to it. If you change the details of the story so that 3rd parties aren't at all identifiable, that should clear you of the danger of legal action. You know the standard disclaimer: "All names and other details which could identify those involved have been changed ['to protect the innocent' is sometimes added]." This means doctors become teachers (or dentists) as long as this doesn't interfere with the credibility. [You can't write: "When the teacher told me that I had cancer..."!] And locations should be changed.

I wrote a true story, "The Illcome Visit" http://jimmsfairytales.com/visit.htm in which part of my disclaimer was "Excuse me, everybody named Stefan, for using your name for this character, but on the other hand – to any other reader: if you ever come across someone called Stefan, you can be sure that he’s not the person in this story. (You can’t be entirely sure about anybody else...) [...] So, "Stefan” [...] if you decide to sue me for defamation of character, you will only be identifying yourself."

Of course, even if you change the details enough that the PUBLIC can't identify the participants, the essence of the story might make it identifiable to the participants themselves. In some cases this could lead to bad feeling between them and the person who told you their story, and you should warn the latter of this possibility, but YOU should be safe from legal problems. (See last sentence of previous paragraph.)

As to royalties: my latest [finished] work, "Not Now, Daddy!" http://jimmsfairytales.com/olivia.htm uses contributions from guest artists as details in most of the illustrations. I offered them each a choice between a lump sum payment or 1% of the illustration royalties for the first 5 years, and had them all [and their parents in the case of minors] sign an agreement confirming which option they chose and that they were satisfied with this and would not ask for a bigger cut in the future.

This is a sticky area, Patricia. You're talking about the most private areas of a person's life, and however much they may want to tell you at first, and agree to you writing, they may change their mind later once they see the result.

You can give them a right to see copy before you publish, at which point you should get them to sign and date all pages of the mss, with 'read and approved', and write on the last page that they agree to this appearing in its current form. You could also agree a form of contract upfront, which all parties sign, giving you the right to tell their stories, but with the proviso of them having a veto over their part in the finished piece.

Anonymity only goes so far: if their story involves other people, you could lay yourself open to charges of libel from those third parties if they feel they are at all identifiable, or are shown in way detrimental to their good name.

There's also the question of payment and royalties: you will have written the work, but your subjects may feel they have a claim upon any income from it.

Get proper legal advice. If your own solicitor isn't up to speed in this area, he or she may know someone who is, or which body to contact.

Lorraine