: What are my legal rights if somebody writes a book about me without my consent? So, I just discovered a person I knew in college has written a book. This book is titled as fiction. But after

Get a lawyer.

Maybe you have a case and can sue.

Maybe you don't have a case, but can still threat legal actions. Maybe the other side will surrender because they don't want to invest the money and effort into a proper defense.

An experienced lawyer will tell you what they think and advise you on what course of action to take.

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"It was in newspapers."

If the circumstances applicable to you were printed as "News"
AND these newpapers complied with my professional association's Code of Ethics
then whatever the author writes and publishes IS actionable as libel,
but save your $, you won't win. It probably won't even get on the docket.

Being a "work of fiction" is irrelevant in this case, there are countless
fictional works that reference real people and events.

I mention the SPJ Ethical Code and whether or not the newspapers in question
adequately reported the initial and any follow ups on whatever "It" was.
Clearly "It" is something you'd prefer everyone forget.

In the rare case that ALL of these newspapers are scandal sheets that have no
ethics or professional reporting standards, you could sue for libel
and have a chance.

More likely they did report the story correctly. In which case the same facts
from the newspapers' original stories are being re-hashed by the author.
This is protected speech under the 1st ammendment.

You did not sue then, because everything was true?
Sounds like what you'd rather not get re-hashed is verifiable truth, which
can't be sued for libel, (not in the US).

As for your parents, yourself and your current employer, all of you have rights.
The main thing the author MAY violate is your privacy. From your Question
An interested party could find you because the author gives your real name and location of your current employer.

If this is relevant information to "It" and the information hasn't changed, there's nothing to be accomplished for you legally. Even if you have a new employer and lose your job after the author goes to press, you won't be able to
make a case for libel because "It" was already publicly-available information they could've located about you easily.

If your current employer experiences some sort of loss of income due to the
new publication, THEY CAN sue for libel, but their case would be only marginally more actionable under libel than yours would. Some companies are happy to sue and lose just for the sake of causing anguish and extracting legal costs from the publisher.

If your parents were involved in the initial story, same "n/a" applies.

However, if they were NOT mentioned and later your privacy is violated, or theirs is, you CAN SUE for violation of privacy, especially if readers DO
in fact connect your name, place of work, then follow you home or find out
where your parents live and harm you or them in any way.

In 1965 The US Supreme Court Ruled that all US Citizens have a
Right to privacy.

You still need to file a civil tort action and prove DAMAGE (which can be
financial, physical or emotional) to a jury. The opposition would argue
you knowingly gave up this right by NOT taking legal action in the past against
"the newspapers" that reported "It." initially.

You'd be the one Taking the Action, so the burden of proof lies with YOU.
Unless there is significant fallout after publication harming you, your employer or your family
following publication of this. It won't be worth your while to take action,
you'll most likely rack up huge legal fees and still lose.

You can take a litmus test of "the newspapers" in question by comparing
their handling of "It" with citation 1. Mainly, did these newspapers, in general, "seek the truth an report it"? If a source said something bad about you to a newspaper, did that paper give you adequate opportunity to respond to
allegations or anything that could LATER become actionable? Likely they did,
it's pretty much "Running a newspaper and not getting sued 101."
You can read the Court's ruling and opinion re: Griswold v. Connecticut
in citation 2 to better understand your right to privacy.
On a positive note, don't forget you ALSO have freedom of speech, which
reflexively is limited by the author's right to privacy.

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I'm not a lawyer, so the views expressed here are those of a layman, and writer.

Your situation appears to resemble the one in "The Red Hat Club" litigation, which the plaintiff won.

This does not appear to be a situation where the author created a "generic" character that somewhat resembles you: female, college-educated, from a certain geography, etc. It seems more like a real character that is being used "fictitiously." If so, the author is treading on thin ice.

One of the tests I use is, are there 100, or better yet, 1000 people who could be the inspiration for the fictitious character? Or is she described so exactly that there could only be one person (or a handful of people) in the world who fit the description? The latter appears to be the case.

Only a lawyer can tell you what your rights and remedies are, but as a potential juror (i.e. finder of fact), my sense is that certain lines have been crossed. That is to say that the book is really (and unfortunately) "about you" and not just a "take-off" on a small part of you.

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