When i was in high school, there was a murder. A student in the grade below me was shot, but he was "missing" for almost two years before his body was found. Another student at the same school was eventually convicted of the crime. (though I'm pretty sure he didn't do it) I know a LOT of details about this event, the girl who dated both boys and may have instigated the event is actually my third cousin. there was a long (excellent) article in Memphis Magazine which provided a lot of details i wouldn't have known otherwise, and a low-rent made-for-TV movie made based losely on that article. My question: can i novelize these events freely, without any legal ramifications (beyond the standard "any resemblance..." disclaimer)? In particular, I'm convinced the girl's Dad was the actual killer and my story would tell the story that way (if I wrote it) - I'm wondering about the liability of telling a story close enough that locals understood what it was based on and yet having some deniability when I fingered a different killer.
I believe it would be necessary to change enough details that it isn't exactly about them. People will still recognize the origin (if you know enough science fiction, you see where a lot of Star Trek episode plots came from...) but they can't claim rights. Otherwise, people who are part of the story definitely have a right to demand payment for their story.
There is that, yes. Skin knows that with claims of copyright infringement, the complaining party has to prove essentially two things: access and similarity. When the story is based on an event that actually happened, however, it would probably be a bit more murky, because so much of fiction bears similarity to actual events. (Well, outside of supernatural horror and science fiction, of course.) Sometimes fiction can even be said to predict actual events, like the pilot episode of the TV series The Lone Gunmen and 9/11.
I doubt that figure very much. That would work out to over 12 million people murdered per year, which would empty the city out very quickly...
to be clear(er) i'm not worried about copyright infringement. Fictionalizing a case that has been written about in a fictional manner is pretty common. I'm worried about the people actually involved saying "your character John Brown is clearly intended to represent me and I don't like the way i turned out" or whatever. Particularly in the case of the guy who will be implicated. (even though he's dead - it would be surviving family in this case, particularly the daughter who, IMO, lied to cover for him)
http://www.wordforge.net/showpost.php?p=2097842&postcount=2 My suggestion, Nova? Put yourself in the place of any of the surviving family members and ask yourself how you'd feel if someone wrote this story.
There is, let's not forget to mention, a purpose behind the "This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person or persons, living or dead, yada yada." They don't put that in there just for window dressing.
And depending on the nature of the story, that and a Metrocard will get you on the subway. Out of curiosity, have you ever tried something like this? Successfully?
Nope. Skin prefers to use "true story" type material, when he uses it at all, within high-concept works, so that no one can bitch -- at least, not without the possibility of looking like a total crackpot if they did.
Well, I need to clarify or refine a point again here - I'm not specifically worried about "hurt feelings" it's not a great shock to anyone that this guy would be suspected - before the body was found it was probably the leading theory. And i don't intend to do a note-for-note transcription but at the same time, the identifying characteristics is what makes the guy a suspect (temper, alcoholism, etc) and it'd be difficult to obscure him so much as to not be readily identifiable. I'm much more worried about the legalities of it - especially as they would interfere with being published. One angle I've considered is to knock off what the TV shows do - create a "hero" cop or investigator or some such and then use the facts of the local events as a basis for a case. but (a) i don't care to give the appearance of glamorizing any real local law man and (b) that would lend itself to a series of stories - and I am under no illusion that I could create a murder mystery story from whole cloth. (Plus, it's my understanding a publisher is much more likely to bite on a book featuring a character that can be serialized ala Alex Cross for instance) Really, I just think that this lends itself to my strengths, while not exposing my weaknesses. but i would be ill-advised to write something I couldn't get published because i ignored some legal stumbling block.
Don't recall advising anyone to begin with. If Skin were to give advice, it would be this: Don't bother doing "based on's" at all. But if you're going to do them, make explicitly clear that they're fiction and that you refuse any liability for any coincidental similarity. Or better yet, leave even that last part out, on giving it further thought. If it's the legalities you're worried about, don't even acknowledge that there might could be any similarity. As far as anyone in your town is concerned, some of what you remembered might accidentally have crept into what you're writing about. Or you could solve all that this way: Do what Skin does and use a pen name.
And it's the legalities I'm concerned about. I'm not saying don't write the story. But if you do write it, you're safest disguising the real characters as much as possible, and that pretty much defeats your purpose. You can try simply setting the story in another state. Take the characteristics of the town where the real story took place, but transfer them somewhere else. Invent a small town in, say, Texas. Or, as others suggested in the other thread, change the physical descriptions of the characters and/or their relationships (make it an uncle instead of the father, for example) as much as possible. Then you're left with the "meat" of the story - i.e., the murder - and you can work that into something original that could be very powerful.
