Autobiography defamation cases character

The Legal Consequences of Using Real People in Fiction

Ask a Lawyer Series

When Fiction & Reality Collide

By Attorney Lloyd J. Jassin

Q: My main character is loosely based on a real person.

I mean, that's who inspired me. I never identify him by name (he's my ex-friend) and I've made up 90% of the events that happen in the book. I'm worried after the book becomes successful, that he'll come back and try to take a stake in the millions.  What can I do to prevent this?  - GWB

A:  So you ask, “How do you discourage a prototype from becoming a plaintiff?”

A basic understanding of libel law Libel is helpful.  Libel is defined as a false statement of fact “of and concerning” a person that damages their reputation.  If you were to say that fiction, which describes a world that doesn't actually exist, was incapable of defaming a real person, it would be logical, but wrong. 

Happily for novelists (and The