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Famed Parisian Fabric Store Sues Author For Defamation After She Used The Store In A Novel
from the write-what-you-know dept
This is just getting silly. The famous saying in the writing business is "write what you know," but when "what you know" sues you for defamation, things get tricky. We've covered various stories of people suing (and sometimes winning) by claiming defamation in that a fictional character was "based on them." This makes very little sense, as most characters that novelists write are loosely based on people they know... and exaggerated or composited with others. That's how you create realistic believable fictional characters.
But what if you get beyond characters to actual locations?
Copycense points us to the news of a famous landmark Parisian fabric store that was used as a major set piece in a novel by Lalie Walker. Apparently, the store, the Marche Saint Pierre, was not at all pleased and has sued Walker for defamation, demanding €2 million in damages.
The author is "flabbergasted" and notes that she wrote the novel "from an affectionate point of view" in an attempt to pay tribute to the store.
But Village d'Orsel, the business which runs the Marche Saint Pierre, insists that the book -- Aux Malheurs des Dames, a play on an Emile Zola novel set in Paris's 19th-century department stores -- tarnishes its image. For more than 60 years the multi-storey shop has provided customers with a wealth of materials at low cost from its building at the foot of the Butte, or hill, of Montmartre.This is what we get in an "ownership society" where everyone thinks that they have full control over what others can say about them -- even in fictional stories.
By describing a mysterious -- and fictional -- malaise afflicting the self-declared "kingdom of fabric", it says the book gives a false impression of the Marche.
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Sucks
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It's a fine line nowadays...
INCREDIBLY tricky, actually. Between the book I've finished and the one I'm working on now, I find it nearly impossible to not include the city of Chicago and the surrounding areas as chief setting locations, strictly because my familiarity with the area means I can write more believable setting descriptions. When writing fiction about present day, as in my previous work, it's nearly impossible not to reference real world locations, so you have to figure out howto change just enough of the details to avoid this kind of stupidity.
"most characters that novelists write are loosely based on people they know... and exaggerated or composited with others. That's how you create realistic believable fictional characters."
Kudos. That's as succinct an explanation of how an author uses the people they know to write characters. There is usually two ways. First, they write about a known person's character traits, and then twist or exaggerate them and give them a fictional name. Secondly, if you have a character you're satisfied with, but can't come up with a fitting but realistic name, you slap the name of one of your friends/family on them. Either way, when these people read the work, they tend to get flustered and upset, as if you're directly describing them and/or criticizing them. Which, of course, is immensely stupid.
"But what if you get beyond characters to actual locations?"
Again, you remain vague enough or change just enough to keep from something that is actionable. That's how Mayor Daley became Mayor Donovan in my work. Or how Club Lucky, a ridiculously amazing Italian Restaurant in Wicker Park, became "The Golden Club".
The fact that I have to do all this is immensely frustrating and creatively it is an obstruction....
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Re: It's a fine line nowadays...
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Re: Sucks
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Either way, it's absurd.
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Re: Re: It's a fine line nowadays...
That's the point, it isn't. I've never been to New Mexico, for example, and I wanted to write two or three scenes that took place there (Roswell). It meant spending HOURS going through Google Maps (streetview was immensely helpful), satellite data, and several websites including the city's, all in order to even have half a SHOT at writing the scene. And even then I couldn't be as detailed as the scenes that took place in Chicago.
But from a legal worrying standpoint, you're right, places you know nothing about are easier, and places you've completely constructed out of thin air (fantasy worlds, historical settings where limited info is available, etc.) are probably best....
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Re: Re: Sucks
Huh, I actually heard that they don't make their prodcuts at all. I heard they are made by clubbing baby seals over the head, at which point the baby seal poops out the merchandise. There was something about eviscerating a pregnant golden retreiver too, but I can't remember the exact details....
Okay, that last one even grossed ME out....
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Re: Re: Sucks
If Marche Saint Pierre used slave labor, there would likely be a lot of diseases there, right?
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Copied out of a paperback I've got at hand, similar or identical to another paperback also at hand. Much like the statements at the end of movie credits.
Presuming the book in the article has something like it on the first page or so, isn't this enough to preclude or throw out such lawsuits?
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Re: Re: Re: It's a fine line nowadays...
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Re: Re: Re: Re: It's a fine line nowadays...
James Joyce did this wonderfully in "Portrait"....
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Re: Re: Re: Sucks
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Re: Disclaimers
> places, and incidents are either the product
> of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
> Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead,
> events, or locales is entirely coincidental."
What's funny is that you see this same disclaimer in movies and books that *are* about real people and events. For example, that movie "Pearl Harbor" with Ben Affleck had that disclaimer in the end credits. Sure some of the characters were fictional, but many weren't (Admiral Kimmel, LTC Doolittle, etc). And of course the places and events were all real.
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Re: Success
Not really. The lawsuit is on very thin ice legally and unless they can prove their business was damaged by the book's description of it, they're not likely to win anything.
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Re: Re: Success
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Aux Malheurs des Dames
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I am very enjoyed for this site.
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