Thoughts on using the names of real people or places

I have been searching posts and cannot find anything related to this. What are your thoughts about using a real person's name such as, "Picture Bruce Lee with her head, that's how she fights." Or, "They were going to sing Karaoke and she chose the song, "Angie Baby" by Hellen Reddy. Also, "They always go to McDonalds when they hang out." Or "She got into a confrontation with some guys at McDonalds." I had felt as if using a place like McDonalds would make the story more realistic. I have made up a burger place but I do not thing it gives the feeling that McDonalds would. The setting is late 1970's Tucson.

I just read a book by a publishing attorney, and what she said makes me wonder if this is alright to do. Dean Koontz wrote a book series about his character, "Odd Thomas" and this character sees ghosts and at times Elvis, Frank Sinatra and others. Did he need get permission to use these?

One of my characters is a young woman that has studied martial arts since she was 7 and she fights like Bruce Lee. I have made up a character to use in place of Bruce Lee. But this adds additional description so the reader has an idea who this person is and how he fights in movies. Most everyone knows of Bruce Lee which is someone that would not require any introduction.

I wouldn't be saying anything about these people other than what I described. And I only worry about using McDonalds because my character has a short confrontation with these guys. She puts one guy's hand into a wrist lock a few times and due to him not stopping, she breaks his arm.

Thoughts?

 

McDonald's and ghosts of famous people are fair game as long as you aren't defaming them. Comparing the slimy ex in your story to your real life slimy ex by name will cause problems at some point. Not only is it defamation, but he/she may have a new flame who is a martial arts champion and will separate your face from your head.

Mentioning someone is singing Angie, Baby is okay. Quoting the lyrics requires permission.

 

Describing characters using celebrities is a definite no-no, in my opinion. Not because of any legal angle, but because it both dates your book and comes off as kind of lazy. If a reader doesn’t know the celebrity, they’ve basically got no clue what the character looks like and are either knocked out of the story to go look them up or move on without understanding the description.

This isn’t the place for legal advice, but as a general rule, there’s no issue with referring to real people and places if your depiction of them is positive or neutral. Characters chatting over a meal inside McDonald’s is fine; “McDonald’s hamburger patties are people!” is not. You can mention titles of all sorts of media, but the actual lines of a song, poem, or other short work that isn’t in the public domain will get you in trouble (unless you have permission from the copyright holder) because they represent a significant fraction of the content.

 

I read a lot, or at least I listen to a lot of audiobooks. Authors use brand names and trademarks constantly. I would agree that anything defamatory might be dangerous, but it's still done. I listened to the Until the End of the World trilogy recently. They raid a Walmart some time after the zombie apocalypse, and one of the characters stops by the jewelry department for earrings but doesn't take anything because she remembers that "Walmart jewelry sucks." I was shocked, but there it was. Then again, they do it all the time in film and television, I guess.

@X Equestris is correct, and I'm sure Fearless Leader will be by any minute to remind us as well that WF is not a place for legal advice. Either way, I know tons of writers are getting away with it all the time. Real world brands lend verisimilitude to a scene, where fictitious names often feel so fake that they take you out of the reality of the story. Trademarked products also conjure specific images and feelings. Imagine if you couldn't use the name of a car model. You'd have a damned annoying time trying to put a picture of a Mustang or a Beetle into a reader's head.

 

You can always fudge it, like "We stopped in under the big arches and got a Mcburger." And "She fought like the little guy with all the swagger in those Dragon movies from the Seventies."