If you place a "disclaimer" at the beginning that the people and events have been changed to protect the innocent, and that any similarities to actual persons, either living or dead, are merely coincidental, it is not considered defamation of character and you can't be sued. You have the First Amendment, which gives you freedom of speech. Legal Experts: Bail BondsExpert WitnessesPrivate InvestigatorsCourt ReportersProcess ServersLitigation Funding

I got the idea from clearing away that old garbage dump on an island near our cottage and finding the pair of spectacles. It was those small wire glasses that made me decide to write the story about a girl who, when she puts on the glasses, goes into the past to help a ghost solve a problem and find some peace. It is not based on a real story, but on fragments of things I've read, dreams, bits of my own life, and, of course, mainly my imagination - which has always worked overtime!

Sydney Morning Herald writer Richard Ackland reported the latest US result in an internet driven defamation action. On 11 February 05, he wrote: The Duke of Brunswick's case (1849) has been a leading authority for what constitutes a publication in defamation. By extension it is also authority that a cause of action arises in each and every jurisdiction where the material that is sued on is read.

Most people think of personal injury as a physical injury caused by another party. Not all personal injury causes physical harm. There is a form of personal injury that does no physical harm, but can be extremely harmful to a person's reputation (or "character"). That form of personal injury is called "defamation," which is sometimes known as "defamation of character."

I've had people tell me that while on their vacation at Zihuatanejo in Mexico, someone actually claimed she was Andy Dufresne's wife!! To repeat, The Shawshank Redemption is about as fact as the toothfairy and Santa Clause, it is a FICTION story.

Just about anything that is not blatant fantasy... and even some of that is in a grey area. No, we don't actually visit anime worlds (we should be so lucky). Yes, we really are such dedicated otaku that if the opportunity arose, we would probably wait until we were done watching the current video. Strips pertaining to the cat's behavior are almost always literal, although her reasons for doing so may not be exactly as we present them.

The book's central idea is true (meeting the angel), the journey to Mojave too, but much of what is written is fictionalized. Nevertheless, the most important episode - the meeting of the angel - really did happen, and I left a statue of the Lady of Aparecida in Glorieta Canyon, near Borrego Springs, CA.

No, NONE of the movie is real. It's not "based on a true story" which half of Hollywood pretends to be because it keeps it real, man; it was based on a Japanese movie (by Nakata Hideo) which itself was based on a Japanese book (by Suzuki Koji), in which the Rachel character was male and the Noah character was a confessed serial rapist. And no, we're not making that up.

Blade Runner is LOOSELY based on a Philip K. Dick novella, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (DADoES). Dick also wrote the story that Total Recall was based on, We Can Remember It For You, Wholesale. A recurring theme in Dick's work is the question of personal and human identity. A question explored more in DADoES and Total Recall than in Blade Runner is "what is reality?" You are most likely to find DADoES in a second-hand bookstore.

No I made that up, but I know another guy who did something similar. He thought he would short out the fence and it arced...and knocked him over

If you are writing a simple fan fiction or any other story that you intend to post on the Internet (or elsewhere) free of charge, then the answer is yes. All I ask is that you try to make the character as accurate to my representation of them as possible, that you do not use the character for anything offensive, and that you give me at least a little bit of credit (to Justin "Saber-Scorpion" Stebbins and possibly a link back to my site).

There were several reports 3-4 years ago that she was. But we are not aware if she is in fact still writing it or has already written the book.

If you have been defamed you may seek both actual damages, to recover the harm that you have suffered, and punitive damages to punish the person who made the remark (and serve as an example to deter others). If the defamation improperly accused you of a crime or reflected on your profession, the court or jury can assess the damages. For other types of defamation you must prove some actual damage to be able to recover.

There is a chance you might be able to. In the Character Descriptions board there is a thread called Approvals - Book Characters, where you can apply to become one, if the character is not taken already.

Answer: There are ordinarily 6 possible defenses available to a defendant who is sued for libel (published defamatory communication.) Fair comment on a matter of public interest. This defense applies to "opinion" only, as compared to a statement of fact. The defendant usually needs to prove that the opinion is honestly held and the comments were not motivated by actual "malice.

Yes but this was not "Shakespeare in Love". Romeo and Juliet was in fact based on the life of two real lovers who both died for each other and lived in Verona, Italy in 1303. Both the Capulets and Montagues existed in Verona at this time and Shakespeare is reckoned to have discovered this tragic love story in Arthur Brooke's 1562 poem entitled "The Tragical Historye of Romeus and Juliet" .

It's about a guy who grew up in the Midwest, moved to the Northeast as a young man and never went back... and then suddenly has to go back after 15 years and finds himself having to deal with the gap between red country and blue country -- between who he was, and who he is.

This is the question I am asked most often. And the most honest answer I can come up with is, I don't know. There are pieces of it I can point to that are absolutely, factually pulled directly from my life. They tend to be the more unbelievable ones. For instance, I do have a son who withdrew for a long time and the first story ever to reach him was Mrs. Doubtfire.

Fiction has always been my interest, although I have read most of John Douglas's and Roy Hazelwood's works dealing with their interviews with serial killers, the investigation of real murder cases and the concept of profiling. Outside of that, I have read very little non-fiction. I enjoy the creativity of fiction a lot more I guess. I do have an idea that I've been kicking around for a number of years regarding a piece of historical fiction, but that's as probably as close as I'll get.

It's not sometimes...it's always! It's a much more exciting way to write. The challenge is to create a puzzle for the readers. My job is to keep them guessing for as long as I can. It's like flying by wire. You embark with nothing, just a tightrope across a chasm. It's a much more enjoyable way to write because I have to work it out along with the reader. If I don't know who did it until half way, the reader is going to be fairly fazed as well.

Defamation is false and unprivileged spoken words or written publication, which exposes any living person to hatred, contempt, ridicule, or which causes him/her to be shunned or avoided, or which has a tendency to injure him/her in his/her trade or occupation. For example, if a person or the news media says or writes something about you that is understood to lower your reputation, or that keeps people from associating with you, defamation has occurred.

Resolved Question: The level of US casualties from anything but a VERY slow withdrawal from Iraq would be ENORMOUS. So why is Ob Obama favoring a "QUICK" withdrawal? The level of casualties that may be taken during a quick retreat of 250,000 American troops and others, would be astronomical. The Saigon retreat by helicopter is in American memory, that was for only the last of the embassy personnel. Nixon had carefully removed 365,000 soldiers from Vietnam during the period from 1969 to 1973.

I tend to like Chamber of Secrets and Goblet of Fire best. I love those books so much . . . but what can I say? I love all the books in their special ways (although Prisoner of Azkaban annoys me, since it contains a terrible portrayal of Severus Snape). All are wonderful! As for my favorite characters, this is the glandanderous order: Draco Malfoy, Severus Snape, Remus Lupin, Harry Potter, Sirius Black, and Hermione Granger. My favourite Weasleys are Ron and George. But . . .

Paramount has long supported Star Trek fanfiction. They have allowed the publication of fanzines since the early 1970's and hold annual fanfiction contests. MGM has also expressed vague approval for fannish activities, most notably by providing fans with a fanvid website. Fan vids are notoriously more litigious than fanfiction.

I'm afraid that is unlikely. Captain Gamer: Digital Defender is my story, and unlike the fan fiction written for fun, I am actually writing something that I want to be taken seriously not only as a video game-influenced story, but as a work of fiction in general. There will be no user cameos, forum inside jokes, self-insertion, god-modes (unless part of the story), references to other fan fiction or web comic, or the like.

Of course! Just make sure you email me about it and let me know, and let me put it up too! People always (usually) like when you wanna use their characters. And actually, it's a good way to start if you can't think up your own. Check the "What's New?" page first. I put all the fics and art that are new right up there so you don't have to search for them. If it's not there, but it IS on the Previous Updates list, then tell me I went and forgot to upload the actual archive pages again. -_-;

Fred has since said that he will get them done when the MegaTokyo website redesign is finished. Such things already exist on this and other sites. As for what those pages used to have, the Story page was just this graphic and the Characters page was this.

No, but it helps if you have some idea of your characters history to draw upon to help you figure out how he or she will react to certain situations and people. Here is a (very) simplified example: Your Human character lost her parents at the hand of the Orcish Horde during the Second War. She now has a deep-seeded hatred of all Orcs and will go out of her way to kill as many of them as she can.