: Re: What was the legal doctrine or standard that made the following acceptable? In writing a review about the movie "Moneyball" some years ago, I noted that the name of Billy Beane's assistant had

@Kristi637

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I'm no legal expert, so this is just my best guess:

In the case of a true story with a fictionalized character, the use of a fake name when everyone else is under their real name is enough to signal the distance between the real and fake person. In a story where everyone is under a fake name, however, the use of distinctive distinguishing traits might be enough to demonstrate that a real person is being referred to.

In the case of a slightly altered name, I'm assuming you would argue that the character was clearly intended as a parody, not an actual depiction.

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