Nellie Mitchell, a 96-year-old woman, was awarded $1.5 million dollars in damages for a photograph of her that was used by The Sun in a fictionalized story.
Melanie Geisler sued author Orlando Petrocelli and his publisher, Pinnacle Books Inc., for the use of her identity in his book “Match Set.”
In January 2009, Duquesne University publicly stated that it was upset with the school’s portrayal in the latest John Grisham novel, “The Associate.”
Fictionalization takes many forms. It occurs in films, television shows and novels. It is “the purposeful distortion of the truth,” according to the book “Mass Media Law,” by Don R. Pember and Clay Calvert.
Throughout the entertainment industry, fictionalization cases are brought on by individuals who feel that they were portrayed in a false light or their stories were not told correctly.
At times, the plaintiff will win its case because the proper precautions were not taken by the production or publishing company before it used the plaintiff’s materials-information, photographs, etc.-in its work.
I think that fictionalization, when used properly by the writer who follows the necessary actions to prevent false light charges, does have a meaningful place in the media for entertainment value.
It is not difficult for the defendant to avoid a lawsuit involving fictionalization. The two biggest precautions that can be taken by authors, writers, photographers and anyone else in the entertainment or journalism field are to first buy the rights to the individual’s story. The second is to add a disclaimer somewhere in the finished product that informs the audience that what they are about to see or read is only a part of the truth.
By buying the rights to a story, the writer can make changes in order to make the story seem more interesting to the audience.
Disclaimers notify the audience that the story they will see or read has been changed. These are a way for the writers to defer the responsibility of any parts of their work that the subject does not agree with. While disclaimers do not prevent lawsuits from being filed, they can aid the defendant if the case goes to court.
