tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1591679994751212734.post899483661870401733..comments2024-03-24T06:32:13.194+13:00Comments on Crime Watch: French writer sued for using real life setting in latest murdery mysteryKiwicraighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11687089028299093360noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1591679994751212734.post-86037649264798238772010-03-20T11:57:03.807+13:002010-03-20T11:57:03.807+13:00I assumed that the statement you see in the header...I assumed that the statement you see in the headers of lots of novels covers this kind of eventuality?<br /><br />"This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental."<br /><br />If authors cannot use real places fictitiously for fear of being sued, its going make fiction really fictional!Rob Kitchinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05567424969308636082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1591679994751212734.post-45562808009878654662010-03-20T08:31:24.498+13:002010-03-20T08:31:24.498+13:00They are daft, and as Philip said, are making fool...They are daft, and as Philip said, are making fools of themselves.<br /><br />I use real cafes in my books and real places, and the owners are pretty chuffed to have even got a mention (haven't got any free coffees from it, by the way, in case you're thinking the mentions were 'paid' for (-: )<br /><br />Also, readers love to see real businesses they know mentioned in books, it makes them instantly relate to the characters. For this business to turn around and sue the author is a dumb move. If I was them I'd be capitalising on it in different ways - I'd be selling the book in store and have a big poster in the window "Scene of Lalie Walker's book!"Vanda Symonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09956034768397598056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1591679994751212734.post-16530057499325354232010-03-20T02:11:43.590+13:002010-03-20T02:11:43.590+13:00The words of Robert Gabby quoted above are ridicul...The words of Robert Gabby quoted above are ridiculous, so all-encompassing is his embargo on anyone talking about the store. If matters were as he suggests, it would bar anyone from so much as saying they were going to do some shopping there or recommending the quality of its merchandise. I surmise that a pivotal point in the case would be whether an argument could be made that Lalie Walker (new to me) intended readers to think that such goings-on actually occur at the store and/or that the owner is complicit in them -- and I can't see that case being sustained in a court of law! Mind you, if the novel is marketed in the UK, Village d'Orsel could sue in the British courts, and given the ludicrous nature of defamation proceedings there, I think anything may be possible. But at bottom I suspect that the company has made a fool of itself.Philip Amoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11739418522974972567noreply@blogger.com