On Thu, 03 Apr 2003 19:24:02 -0800 Quinn Tyler Jackson 
writes:

> Make any sense? If I throw Fred Candelaria, the Canadian poet, into 
> a
> novel (I have done this, with his express permission, in Succubus
> Sea), who owns the fictional version of Fred if someone else 
> decides  to do the same thing?

I should think Fred does, but that's without examining chapter and verse,
which is, I am SURE, covered -- every fictional movie has the disclaimer:
any resemblence to people living or dead is purely coincidental.....
(yeah, right)

> If Mary and I had an affair when I was 18, and she was 28 -- am I
> allowed to fictionalize it and almost tell it word for word -- or 
> can she sue me? 

depends on if she can be recognized from the passage
Certainly one wants to beware of lifting someone "en whole cloth" without
their permission (perhaps why so many reminisces are done late in life --
the key players are all dead). But then, nigh every writer, I'm sure, has
to deal with the issue of everyone they come in contact with sweating
whether that was them in Chapter 12. I know there's a whole subgenre of
writerly essay on the topic.

Assuredly writers draw from their own direct experience. Can't be helped.
And it gives veracity to the work, besides.

> Who holds the rights on interpreting the people I've known?

Key word there: interpreting.
If you're holding a top of the line mirror up to someone, I should
proceed with caution. The rest? Take five or ten and shake 'em up in a
bag.
Or send them a signed copy of the book -- most would be flattered to be
included. My mentor Marta used to mention the places where she was used
with some bemused satisfaction.

However, the above is pure supposition applied with a binder of very
general experience (clouded by just enough journalism/non-fiction to have
dealt with releases).

I EXPECT (especially given the prevalence of the movie (and frequently
book) disclaimer above -- those things don't get added unless there's a
legal brief to cover) this is well explored in law. So what you need is a
friend who's a paralegal -- or a editorial clerk/checker at a publishing
house, unless you're of a mind to dig yourself.  Plus you need to take
the trouble to disclaim if you're pulling from purely Canadian sources,
or you'll need to research other country's laws (and, in the US, SOME of
this varies state by state -- and application/interpretation, certainly,
judge by judge.... more fun)
Because such a pamphlet SHOULD describe the hard legal facts of the
matter, from the source, not our suppositional maunderings, otherwise it
becomes a propogation of urban legend and innuendo.

In other words, do NOT take my word for things of this nature.

Good luck with it.

BarbJ

====
Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint. --Mark
Twain 
====
[Courage is...] tasting the vegetable before making a face. --Bernard
Waber

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