McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

Famous Dead People

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MClark:
Hi,

What are the rules about including famous dead people in your story?

I suppose getting permission from the heirs is the safest way, but suppose you say something critical?  Did Alan Moore get permission to include Richard Nixon in Watchmen? Did Farmer get permission from the heirs to have Herman Goehring in Riverworld, or Samuel Clemens?

I guess that as long as you don't say anything untrue it isn't libelous.

And I suppose most heirs would prefer not to give free publicity to writers they don't support and will ignore the story.

Any thoughts?

Snowleopard:
I would think (can't say for sure) that if you're just mentioning the name of the person and info that's in
the public domain you wouldn't have to ask permission.
If you were using the famous person as a major character then you'd probably have to ask.
Again this is just what I think - I don't know for sure.

LizW65:
A lot of it probably depends on how long the person has been dead--for instance, if you wanted to use Shakespeare or Alexander the Great as a character, it's unlikely that anyone would come forward and get you to cease and desist.  However, if the person is only recently dead and still has many active family members, I expect you'd have to tread more carefully.

Snowleopard:
It's that public domain thing.  Shakespeare and Alexander are in the Public Domain but
Nixon and his ilk probably aren't.  I want to say it takes 100 years before something is in
the Public domain but I'm not totally sure on that.

Starbeam:
One point-Nixon was still alive when Alan Moore wrote Watchmen.  Also, it may depend on the celebrity.  There are a lot of stories with Elvis as a character, in some form or other.  Some that outright say who he is, others that only allude to it.  I also want to say I seem to recall reading a collection of shorts where they were all supernatural stories featuring Elvis.  Or it could've just been a coincidence that there were at least 2 shorts in a collection.  One thing to try is to look up current authors who do this kinda thing, Charlaine Harris comes to mind, or maybe try asking an editor or agent on Twitter, or other social media.  Chances are, though, that even they may not know.

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