privacy
Is writing a real-life story about a person is illegal in USA?
<p>I watched many American movies in which they tell about a person who writes a personal real life story of his best friend without his acknowledgement.</p>

<p>And the movies said that person is wrong and in some cases his best friend can sue him to the court.</p>

<p>Is writing a real-life story about a person is illegal in USA? </p>

<p>If so, does it matter if that person changes the names of the characters in the story, so that no-one can have an evidence that he was writing about his best friend?</p>

<p>Tortious publication of private facts is a doctrine that could get a person in trouble. There is no truth-defense to this tort. However, famous people have a hard time enforcing this one because newsworthiness is a defense and courts often find that facts about famous people are newsworthy (and most movies or books about people who are worth the effort of creation are about famous people).</p>

<p>Right to Publicity is another. This basically says that people have a sort of trademark over their personality and it is analyzed much like trademark infringement. Of note is that this is a property right rather than a tort.</p>

<p>You can write whatever you like about whoever you like, however, if what you write is defamatory, you can be sued. A defamatory statement is one which:</p>

<ol>
<li>Is untrue</li>
<li>Identifies the person. Not necessarily unambiguously; a true statement about John Smith (A) can be actionable by a different John Smith (B) if a reasonable person could think it was about them. Identification does not have the be by name - if a reasonable person can work out who you are writing about then that is enough.</li>
<li>Is damaging to the person's reputation.</li>
</ol>
