I'm writing a book that contains a character that actually exists in real life. The person that is involved in my book is the Emperor of Japan. So because I will probable never actually meet him, can I use his name in my book?
I'm writing a book that contains a character that actually exists in real life. The person that is involved in my book is the Emperor of Japan. So because I will probable never actually meet him, can I use his name in my book?
I have been writing an auto-biography and I had this same dilemma, however the people I had written about I did know. I came to the conclusion that yes you can write about real people or include them in your book.
What you do however have to consider is there going to be any backlash from what you write. As long as everything you write is true then you are just stating fact, which is already in the public domain. The problems come when you are writing things that are either untrue or things that people may not like being made public.
In the end I have changed all the names in my book including my own and given myself a pen name as any links between people mentioned may cause issues legally which I do not want.
I hope this helps you