1. Dagolas

    Dagolas Banned

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    Legal question about including real person in fiction novel

    Discussion in 'Word Mechanics' started by Dagolas, Aug 30, 2015.

    Hello everyone!

    Don't know if this is the right section or not, if not I apologize and hope it can be moved.

    I am writing an alternate history novel where Nazi Germany wins WW2. The US never completes the manhattan project, whose research papers are given to Nazi scientist Werner Heisenberg, who becomes a minor character in my novel. He, however, has a big influence on the world in the novel: he creates the nuclear bomb (and hydrogen bomb by the time the novel is set) which ends WW2 with the nuclear destruction of Canada by the Japanese.

    I was wondering, must I contact his (living) son Martin Heisenberg and ask for approval to use him? Would it be considered slander to make him a mass murderer in this way?

    Cheers,
     
  2. Jaro

    Jaro Active Member

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    While I'm not exactly sure on your question, the actual term you are looking for is Libel. Slander is 'Spoken defamation of character'. Libel is 'Writen defamation of character'.
     

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