I'm writing a novel. I have a line in my book that goes something like this:
He looked at the newspaper on the table. The Chicago Tribune featured an article that read, "Hank Reed sentenced to 20 years in prison."
The Chicago Tribune is a real newspaper and the article above has never been featured in the newspaper. Is it legally permissible to claim that the Chicago Tribune wrote this article? I have the normal disclaimers in the front of the book, but I'm not sure if that protects me.
Yes, as long as it is clear that this is fiction. It is utterly common for fiction set in the current world to mention real institutions and people, and have them do and say things that they never really did or said, to fit the plot or just to provide background. Busman's Honeymoon by Sayers included quotes from the (London) Times about Lord Peter Wimsey's wedding, an event which of course never occurred. Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe novels frequently included imagined stories in the New York Times, as well as in the (fictional) New York Gazette. The Novel Advise and Consent by Allan Drury included many fictional stories by real papers (often the Washington Post) about its fictional events, as well as fictional acts and statements by many real political figures of the day. The list could be extended almost forever.
As long as a reasonable reader would understand this to be fiction, there is no issue of defamation. Nor does any paper have a copyright on its name. As for trademarks, as long as you aren't trying to sell a fake paper under a real name, there is no legal issue.
Go ahead, and I hope it is a great story.
is it legal to state a newspaper wrote an article when in fact it never did?
He looked at the newspaper on the table. The Chicago Tribune featured an article that read, "Hank Reed sentenced to 20 years in prison."
That is not defamatory with respect to the newspaper, which is what I gather you are asking.
A fictional title of that type does not harm (and does not even tend to harm) the reputation of The Chicago Tribune. Except for very specific, elaborate, and unlikely circumstances, it would be unreasonable to allege that this or akin fictional title in a novel has damaged the image of the newspaper company.
Generally speaking, it would not be defamatory with respect to a third party either (whether or not that person's name happens to be Hank Reed). For it to be defamatory, the novel would have to be such that its context reasonably supports a conclusion that the Hank Reed of the novel (1) essentially alludes to some real individual whose characteristics resemble or are similar to those of that character; (2) that individual has not been sentenced to prison; and (3) the fictional sentence of imprisonment is associated to some reproachable conduct that in the novel is attributed to that character Hank Reed.
