0

I'm contemplating a work of science fantasy in a pulp novel style that would have a protagonist based on a real living person who would be recognizable by much of the world today. This person held a high elected position but is now retired. The story would involve an alternate history of world events soon after this person was elected.

There would be no references to real world events after this person was elected, and few if any from prior to that. The writing would not be political in nature nor offer any particular opinions about this person's real policies. It may refer to other real public-facing persons and organizations relevant at the time but they would be treated in the same arm's length manner.

I want to use this person because I believe their familiarity and particular personality traits and mannerisms would help fuel the story's progression, and the particular position this person held would add an interesting and in my opinion intriguing dimension to the storyline. I initially contemplated an original character that would be similar, but as I thought about it I kept using this person as the archetype. Then I thought, why not use the person's actual public persona?

The character's traits would be based on my knowledge of the person's persona in public life from speeches, interviews, and other media coverage of public events. I have no interest in making it biographical and it would clearly be speculative fiction. It would not be intentionally fawning or denigrating to the actual person's reputation but the character like any other would have evolving virtues and foibles in the story.

I'm not asking for legal advice. I would consult with a lawyer for that before proceeding. What I'm asking for here are opinions based on experiences, and specifically:

  1. Are there any precedents in the published world that succeeded with using living public personas as characters in alternate history fiction? I would like to research them to see how certain aspects were handled.

  2. From anyone with publishing experience, how could I expect the publishing world to treat this? Would it be considered too controversial or risky to be involved with? Even if I didn't use the person's real name would the fact that it was an obvious caricature of this person still be an issue?

dhinson919
  • 123
  • 4

2 Answers2

0

Laws will vary from country to country, and your case will definitely tread into grey territory that would be open to interpretation.

US law says if that person is deceased you can write them in whatever way you want, but a living person can sue for right-to-privacy.

Another grey area is that public figures, particularly public officials lose some of their personal rights while acting in their official capacity. For instance, a presidential speech is in the public domain, but his personal notes on the speech are his private papers.

Your idea that you could write this character as a public official, in an office they never actually held, but based on their public domain 'persona' while an elected official.... Ehhh, this is definitely grey territory.

I think you will need to consult a real attorney on this one.

wetcircuit
  • 29,603
  • 4
  • 51
  • 129
0

There is a reason why all Hollywood movies have a fictional US president in them instead of the currently real one: to avoid legal problems. And the stories work just as well, because while they require a president, they do not a specific one. For the story it does not matter if Donald Trump presses the red button or "Mr. President" does. If your story requires not just any person in that role, but a specific existing individual, you are leaving the realm of fiction and will face real world repercussions.

What those repercussions might be has been answered in the many variants of the same question that have been asked before on this site, so I won't repeat them here.

Ben
  • 19,064
  • 1
  • 16
  • 72