Fictionalization prompts good stories

Nellie Mitchell, a 96-year-old woman, was awarded $1.5 million dollars in damages for a photograph of her that was used by The Sun in a fictionalized story.

Melanie Geisler sued author Orlando Petrocelli and his publisher, Pinnacle Books Inc., for the use of her identity in his book "Match Set."

In January 2009, Duquesne University publicly stated that it was upset with the school's portrayal in the latest John Grisham novel, "The Associate."

Fictionalization takes many forms. It occurs in films, television shows and novels. It is "the purposeful distortion of the truth," according to the book "Mass Media Law," by Don R. Pember and Clay Calvert.

Throughout the entertainment industry, fictionalization cases are brought on by individuals who feel that they were portrayed in a false light or their stories were not told correctly.

At times, the plaintiff will win its case because the proper precautions were not taken by the production or publishing company before it used the plaintiff's materials-information, photographs, etc.-in its work.

I think that fictionalization, when used properly by the writer who follows the necessary actions to prevent false light charges, does have a meaningful place in the media for entertainment value.

It is not difficult for the defendant to avoid a lawsuit involving fictionalization. The two biggest precautions that can be taken by authors, writers, photographers and anyone else in the entertainment or journalism field are to first buy the rights to the individual's story. The second is to add a disclaimer somewhere in the finished product that informs the audience that what they are about to see or read is only a part of the truth.

By buying the rights to a story, the writer can make changes in order to make the story seem more interesting to the audience.

Disclaimers notify the audience that the story they will see or read has been changed. These are a way for the writers to defer the responsibility of any parts of their work that the subject does not agree with. While disclaimers do not prevent lawsuits from being filed, they can aid the defendant if the case goes to court.

If a person sues for fictionalization, they sometimes think that the story is wrong or that a character resembles them a bit too much. In some cases, this is true. However, some stories are completely made up and a real person is unintentionally connected to the story. In others, a person's identity is stolen when a character shares many of the person's characteristics and qualities.

A person's name can be used, but not their identity, according to "Mass Media Law."

The Sun made up a story about a 101-year-old woman who was pregnant and used an old photograph of Nellie Mitchell to illustrate their story.

Because of their ignorance, Mitchell won her lawsuit of fictionalization, according to Peoples Bank & Trust Co. of Mountain Home v. Globe International Inc. The lesson in this case, for all aspiring journalists, is not to use photos of real people in made-up stories.

With the case Geisler v. Petrocelli, Melanie Geisler's identity was used in a book written by Orlando Petrocelli. Geisler worked with Petrocelli before he had written the book and the two had developed a relationship that eventually went sour.

The character in Petrocelli's book not only shared Geisler's name, which would have been acceptable and not a form of fictionalization, but also included many characteristics leading readers to believe that she is the character in the book. Had Petrocelli only used her name, the case would not have happened. Instead, he stole Geisler's identity and portrayed her in a false light.

In January 2009, Duquesne University in Pittsburgh released a statement referring to Grisham's most recent novel that said, "As would any institution, we think it's unfortunate that he chose to use our name and associate it with a fictional incident of this nature, especially when Duquesne students are generally known for their leadership and integrity."

According to the article "Grisham's latest fiction provokes Duquesne University" by Torsten Ove, the university was upset that the incident in question, an alleged sexual assault, involved characters that were described as students at the school. Duquesne could not make a case against Grisham because, as a university, it is seen as a public figure and cannot claim false invasion of privacy.

I do not have a problem with the fictionalization of stories as long as it is done responsibly. Fictionalizing stories or parts of stories are simply a form of entertainment.

There are times when no one knows exactly what happened during a certain time, as was the case in Tyne v. Time Warner Entertainment Co. Family members of the crew of the Andrea Gale, which was lost at sea, filed a lawsuit over the fictionalization and commercial misappropriation of their relatives' story in the movie "The Perfect Storm."

Neither the writers nor the family members themselves know what exactly happened to the ship's crew when it sank, and the only way to show their story without leaving a giant hole in the movie was to fictionalize what happened.

Once the rights to a story have been sold, writers have the right to make changes as they please without having to worry about repercussions from the real people, according to "Mass Media Law."

While it is important to protect people from being portrayed in a false light, it is just as important to protect the rights of writers to use fictionalization to tell stories.

Without fictionalization, many movies and stories, like "The Perfect Storm" and "The Associate," would not be what they are, and part of the story would be missing.