Last Names in Stories based on real life people?

[Solarbeast]

I'm just starting to write a fictional story that I have been wanting to write for a while now, but just recently got back into the rhythm of writing. My story is going to be about a real-life person from a tv reality show and what would happen if I got thrust into the show, in a way, with the addition of bondage. I was wondering if I should share the tv reality show person's last name or should I just stick with the person's first name since I will only be using my first name throughout the whole story. I plan on giving a brief history of their background life to better set the stage for how the story will be, so if you just wanted to look up the tv show than you could essentially find the persons last name if you wanted to. But I do not know if I should give out the last name, or just let them look it up later if they really want to know. Also, I will not forget to promote the story in the story catalog when I have finished writing it.

[Jason Toddman]

If you are writing about a famous person who actually exists, I would suggest using a made-up last name instead of his real one to avoid complications. If someone Googling his name wound up finding your story, it could complicate things for him and therefore you. As in lawsuit.
A good compromise would be to make a variation of his name like satires do; one close enough to be recognizable as his but different enough not to trigger any alarms. Say you were writing about game show host Steve Harvey as an example; in the story you could call him Steve Harley or Steve Carvey instead. That way, even of Steve Harvey himself saw the story, he couldn't really object to it. And chances of trouble would be reduced to zero.

[Xtc]

Tend to agree with [mention]Jason Toddman[/mention].

[Mouthless]

If you are writing about a famous person who actually exists, I would suggest using a made-up last name instead of his real one to avoid complications. If someone Googling his name wound up finding your story, it could complicate things for him and therefore you. As in lawsuit.
A good compromise would be to make a variation of his name like satires do; one close enough to be recognizable as his but different enough not to trigger any alarms. Say you were writing about game show host Steve Harvey as an example; in the story you could call him Steve Harley or Steve Carvey instead. That way, even of Steve Harvey himself saw the story, he couldn't really object to it. And chances of trouble would be reduced to zero.

You cannot get sued for fan fiction that you don’t profit from.

[Pup]

You cannot get sued for fan fiction that you don’t profit from.

You can, it's happened in the past where owners of intellectual property have sued fan fiction writers. (Usually the website hosting the writing just takes it down to avoid potential legal trouble though.)

Though the problem in this case would likely be more to do with potential libel and slander I guess? Not sure what it would fall under.

[Mouthless]

You cannot get sued for fan fiction that you don’t profit from.

You can, it's happened in the past where owners of intellectual property have sued fan fiction writers. (Usually the website hosting the writing just takes it down to avoid potential legal trouble though.)

Though the problem in this case would likely be more to do with potential libel and slander I guess? Not sure what it would fall under.

You’re right, you can sue someone for anything. Sorry, I should have said it’s not illegal.

[Mouthless]

And suing someone doesn’t mean you’re actually going to win any kind of lawsuit. Nobody is going to sue someone on an obscure TUGs site. People here seem a bit paranoid, as if Steve Harvey is somehow going to find this tiny site.

[Pup]

And suing someone doesn’t mean you’re actually going to win any kind of lawsuit. Nobody is going to sue someone on an obscure TUGs site. People here seem a bit paranoid, as if Steve Harvey is somehow going to find this tiny site.

Yeah it really does depend on the person. Though stranger things have happened. Some people literally pay people to police their public image etc. Those are the sorta people I might be concerned with.

[Mouthless]

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Stranger Things have happened?

[Jason Toddman]

You cannot get sued for fan fiction that you don’t profit from.

You can if it's fan fiction about a real person, but i see this has already been pointed out so I won't add to it. Except to add that this is why all movies, TV shows, comic books, and all other fictional media always have a disclaimer that all resemblances to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Even those that feature actors playing themselves. Even the old radio programs before TV often did this after every program.
And Steve Harvey was simply the first person to pop into my head as an example. Solarbeast never said who he was actually planning to write about.
Moreover, even a failed lawsuit involving this site would be disastrous - for this site And that was and is a major concern.
Even if the fiction depicts the actual person in a uniformly positive light that was universally perceived as such, it's not a good idea.
But also although fanfics of fictional characters are less problematic they are not 100% safe either if a valid copyright is still in place. I myself have posted online a fanfic of my own about the original Jonny Quest. I couldn't be sued for money as it is not only non-profit but also a light parody in places (such as pointing out places where events in the original series are highly improbable or racist), but I could still be sued to have it taken down if Warner Brothers (owners of the current copyright) heard about it and objected to it.
only fictional charactwrs so long estabished that they are now in the public domain are completely safe. Sherlock Holmes for example.

[Solarbeast]

Thanks for all the information from all sides of the discussion. I am deciding not to include the person's last name and am deciding to rewrite the introduction to the story. As well, I will not be providing the photo/ screenshot that inspired this story for the safety of the site.

[Mouthless]

You cannot get sued for fan fiction that you don’t profit from.

You can if it's fan fiction about a real person, but i see this has already been pointed out so I won't add to it. Except to add that this is why all movies, TV shows, comic books, and all other fictional media always have a disclaimer that all resemblances to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Even those that feature actors playing themselves. Even the old radio programs before TV often did this after every program.
And Steve Harvey was simply the first person to pop into my head as an example. Solarbeast never said who he was actually planning to write about.
Moreover, even a failed lawsuit involving this site would be disastrous - for this site And that was and is a major concern.
Even if the fiction depicts the actual person in a uniformly positive light that was universally perceived as such, it's not a good idea.
But also although fanfics of fictional characters are less problematic they are not 100% safe either if a valid copyright is still in place. I myself have posted online a fanfic of my own about the original Jonny Quest. I couldn't be sued for money as it is not only non-profit but also a light parody in places (such as pointing out places where events in the original series are highly improbable or racist), but I could still be sued to have it taken down if Warner Brothers (owners of the current copyright) heard about it and objected to it.
only fictional charactwrs so long estabished that they are now in the public domain are completely safe. Sherlock Holmes for example.

Time Warner violates fair use laws all the time. Then abusing copyright laws with takedown notices does not mean it’s illegal or that you can be sued.

[Jason Toddman]

Time Warner violates fair use laws all the time. Then abusing copyright laws with takedown notices does not mean it’s illegal or that you can be sued.

Youtube is an even worse offender in that regard. Problem is, if they take down stuff and get away with it, it doesn't make much practical difference whether it is illegal or not, as far as I can see. Though in my case i have never had a problem with take-downs. For one thing the series is over 50 years old and lasted only one season, so I doubt anyone is concerned with my obscure little fanfic in any case. Even assuming anyone at Warner Bros has ever even heard of it.

[chadmc90]

I feel like we have this conversation alot........

[dragonmp93]

You know, i wonder how sites like Fanfiction.net and Archive of our own exist ?, i mean under what kind of laws.

[Deleted User 1591]

In my stories, most characters are based on real people I personally know or knew. The names were changed to protect the innocent.

[Mouthless]

You know, i wonder how sites like Fanfiction.net and Archive of our own exist ?, i mean under what kind of laws.

Because there are no laws against it.

[Mouthless]

You know what, I do believe I’m getting this confused with laws on fan fictions with copyrighted fictional characters.

[boundsub]

Interesting, I didn't know the legal implications of naming real world public figures; Justin Bieber and Zac Effron's legal team would be quite busy if they knew how much fan fiction is out there as well as art and photo manips on sites like DeviantArt, Tumblr, etc and wanted to send out cease and desist letters. Or possibly even sue....

Though, I've come across stories which seem to be written about non celebrities or public figures such as ones involving friends, co-workers (and even creepily enough family members )

There's one that goes into detail about what would happen if their co-workers found their account here; which is highly unlikely baring a government style background check of your online footprint but still makes you wonder about real world ramifications for potential or current employers finding your bondage or kink sites you have accounts with. Unfortunately, I'm not sure many would be that understanding of those into bondage- especially in certain industries.

[Plueschbabycd]

@boundsub It would came question how susceptible to blackmail you seam. In some case would the possibility enough.